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THE   MEMOIRS 


OF    THE 


LIFE   OF  EDWARD   GIBBON 


ABERDEEN    UNIVERSITY    PRESS 


THE   MEMOIRS 

OF 

THE    LIFE    OF 
EDWARD     GIBBON 

WITH  VARIOUS  OBSERVATIONS  AND  EXCURSIONS 

BY    HIMSELF 

EDITED    BY 
GEORGE    BIRKBECK    HILL,    D.C.L.,    LL.D. 

HONORARY  FELLOW  OF  PEMBROKE  COLLEGE,  OXFORD 


M  E  T  H  U  E  N     &     CO. 

36  ESSEX  STREET,  W.C. 

LONDON 

1900 


PREFACE 

If,   as  Johnson    said,    there    had    been   only   three  books 
"  written  by  man  that  were  wished  longer  by  their  readers," 
the  eighteenth  century  was  not  to  draw  to  its  close  with- 
out   seeing   a    fourth   added.      With    Don    Quixote,    The 
Pilgrims   Progress   and    Robinson    Crusoe,    the   Autobio- 
graphy of  Edward  Gibbon  was  henceforth  to  rank  as  "  a 
work  whose  conclusion  is  perceived  with  an  eye  of  sorrow, 
such   as  the  traveller  casts  upon  departing   day".     It  is 
indeed  so  short  that  it  can  be  read  by  the  light  of  a  single 
pair  of  candles ;  it  is  so  interesting  in  its  subject,  and  so 
alluring  in  its  turns  of  thought  and  its  style,  that  in  a 
second  and  a  third  reading  it  gives  scarcely  less  pleasure 
than  in  the  first.     Among  the  books  in  which  men  have 
told  the  story  of  their  own  lives  it  stands  in  the  front 
rank.     It  is  a  striking  fact  that  one  of  the  first  of  autobio- 
graphies and  the  first  of  biographies  were  written  in  the 
same   years.      Boswell   was  still    working  at  his    Life   of 
Johnson  when   Gibbon  began  those  memoirs  from   which 
his  autobiography,  in  the  form  in  which  it  was  given  to 
the  world,  was  so  skilfully  pieced  together.     But  a  short 
time  had  gone  by  since  Johnson  had  said  that  "  he  did 
not  think  that  the  life  of  any  literary  man  in  England  had 
been  well  written  ".    That  reproach  against  our  writers  he 
himself  did  much  to  lessen  by  his  Lives  of  Cowley  and  of 
Milton,  of  Dryden  and  of  Pope.     It  was  finally  removed 
by  two  members  of  that  famous  club  which  he  had  helped 
to  found.     However  weak  was  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 


vi  PREFACE 

century  in  works  of  imagination,  in  one  great  branch  of 
literature  it  faded  nobly  away.  Both  in  the  Life  of 
Johnson  and  in  the  Autobiography  of  Edward  Gibbon, 
it  "  left  something  so  written  to  after- times  as  they  should 
not  willingly  let  it  die".  Another  hundred  years  have 
gone  by.  Many  Englishmen  since  then  have  written  their 
lives ;  of  many  Englishmen  the  lives  have  been  written  by 
others.  Each  of  these  books,  in  its  own  class,  still  remains 
without  a  rival.  Of  each  of  them  it  may  still  be  said  : 
"  Eclipse  is  first,  and  the  rest  nowhere  ". 

Admirable  as  is  Gibbon's  Autobiography  in  its  present 
form,  we  cannot  help  speculating  on  the  perfection  which 
it  might  have  attained  had  it  been  completed  by  the 
hands  of  the  author.  He  was  an  accomplished  artist,  who 
both  knew  how  to  plan  a  stately  temple,  and  how  to  give 
to  every  corner  its  utmost  polish.  Though  he  left  his 
work  imperfect,  happily  we  have  little  need  to  exclaim  with 
the  poet : — 

Ah,  who  can  raise  that  wand  of  magic  power, 

Or  the  lost  clue  regain  ? 
The  unfinished  window  in  Aladdin's  tower 

Unfinished  must  remain. 

The  six  sketches  of  his  life  which  he  left,  covering  as 
they  more  or  less  did  every  part  of  it,  excepting  a  year  or  two 
at  the  close,  were  in  each  one  of  these  divisions  so  highly 
wrought  that  by  a  skilful  editor  they  could  be  dovetailed 
into  a  single  work  which  should  show  few  traces  of  incom- 
pleteness. Judicious  selection  was  what  was  most  needed, 
for  Gibbon  in  his  different  sketches  often  travelled  over 
the  same  ground.  In  the  main  part  of  his  task  there 
seems  nothing  wanting.  "The  review  of  my  moral  and 
literary  character,"  he  wrote,  "  is  the  most  interesting  to 
myself  and  to  the  public."  That  review  he  left  so  nearly 
perfect  that  even  he  could  have  improved  it  but  little. 


PREFACE  vii 

Of  the  real  merit  of  the  autobiography  his  first  editor, 
Lord  Sheffield,  shows  an  ignorance  that  seems  strange 
indeed  when  we  remember  the  skill  with  which  he  dis- 
charged his  task.  "  It  is  to  be  lamented,"  he  writes,  "  that 
all  the  sketches  of  the  memoirs,  except  that  composed  in 
the  form  of  annals,  cease  about  twenty  years  before  Mr. 
Gibbon's  death ;  and  consequently  that  we  have  the  least 
detailed  account  of  the  most  interesting  part  of  his  life." 
His  lordship  was  misled  by  life's  outward  show  and  pomp. 
It  was  Gibbon  in  the  splendour  of  his  success,  in  the  full 
blaze  of  the  world,  and  not  in  the  long  and  obscure  stages 
of  his  growth  that  he  wished  to  see  portrayed.  He  loved 
to  see  his  friend  a  member  of  Parliament  and  of  the 
ministry,  a  writer  of  state  papers,  the  companion  of  the 
most  distinguished  men  at  home  or  abroad,  and  basking  in 
the  warmth  of  his  great  reputation.  This  to  him  was  the 
most  interesting  part  of  that  unexampled  life — this,  which 
the  great  historian  had  in  common  with  troops  of  famous 
men. 

We  may  regret  that  Gibbon,  when  he  had  written  his 
life,  did  not  think  it  right  "  to  amuse  the  reader  with  a 
gallery  of  portraits  and  a  collection  of  anecdotes  ".  To  do 
so,  as  he  tells  us,  "  was  most  assuredly  in  his  power ". 
Admirable  as  they  would  have  been  in  themselves,  added 
to  his  autobiography,  they  would  have  lessened  its  perfec- 
tion as  a  whole.  Boswell  boasts  with  justice  that,  in  his 
Life  of  Johnson,  "amidst  a  thousand  entertaining  and 
instructive  episodes,  the  hero  is  never  long  out  of  sight'1. 
Scarcely  for  a  single  moment  do  we  lose  sight  of  the  hero 
of  the  autobiography.  It  is  the  life  of  the  author  of  the 
Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  and  his  life  alone, 
that  we  read  from  the  first  page  to  the  last.  If  he  opens 
his  narrative  with  John  Gibbon,  the  Marmorarius  of  King- 
Edward  III.,  it  is  still  his  own  life  that,  in  a  certain  sense, 


viii  PREFACE 

he  is  describing,  for  "  we  seemed  to  have  lived  in  the 
persons  of  our  forefathers  ".  That  "  ideal  longevity  "  of 
the  past  belongs  to  him  as  much  as  the  "  ideal  longevity  " 
of  the  future,  when  "  his  mind  will  be  familiar  to  the 
grandchildren  of  those  who  are  yet  unborn".  If  he  de- 
scribes his  maiden  aunt,  and  her  great  struggles  against 
adversity,  she  it  was  whom  he  gratefully  acknowledged  as 
"  the  true  mother  of  his  mind  ".  If  he  dwells  at  length  on 
the  fourteen  months  he  spent  at  Oxford,  and  on  the  five 
years  he  spent  "on  the  banks  of  the  Leman  Lake,"  it  was  "to 
the  fortunate  banishment  which  placed  him  at  Lausanne 
that  the  fruits  of  his  education  must  be  ascribed  M.  His 
service  in  the  militia  could  not  be  passed  over  in  a  brief 
paragraph,  for  however  much  "  the  reader  may  smile,  the 
captain  of  the  Hampshire  Grenadiers  has  not  been  useless 
to  the  historian  of  the  Roman  Empire ".  The  seat  he 
held  for  some  years  in  the  House  of  Commons  was  worthy 
of  notice,  for  there  he  found  a  "school  of  civil  prudence, 
the  first  and  most  essential  virtue  of  an  historian  ". 

With  the  publication  of  the  last  volume  of  his  history 
he  felt  his  public  life  was  complete.  For  himself,  indeed, 
there  still  remained,  he  fondly  hoped,  a  long  "autumnal 
felicity,1''  happier  by  far  than  his  boyhood  and  his  youth, 
happier,  perhaps,  even  than  those  "twenty  happy  years, 
animated  by  the  labours  of  his  history,"  to  which  he  owed 
that  consciousness  of  high  merit  and  that  great  fame 
which  were  the  very  breath  of  his  nostrils.  Of  this  part 
of  his  life  the  outside  world  need  know  nothing.  He  had 
shown  them  how  a  great  historian  was  made.  How  he 
rested  when  once  his  long  day's  work  was  done,  how  he 
enjoyed  himself,  with  what  great  men  he  lived,  what  he 
heard  among  them  and  what  he  saw — however  interesting 
all  this  might  be  in  itself,  it  formed  no  chapter  in  "  the 
review  of  his  moral   aud   literary  character ".     It  is  this 


PREFACE  ix 

self-restraint  of  the  consummate  artist,  this  wise  reticence 
that  gives  us  an  almost  perfect  picture  of  a  great  scholar  in 
a  work  that  can  easily  be  read  through  at  a  single  sitting. 
Mark  Pattison  joins  Gibbon  with  Milton  as  two  men 
"  who  are  indulged  without  challenge  in  talk  about  them- 
selves"". In  each  "the  gratification  of  self-love,  which 
attends  all  autobiography,  is  felt  to  be  subordinated  to  a 
nobler  end  w.  "  It  is  his  office,ri  as  poet  or  historian,  "  and 
not  himself,  which  he  magnifies."  He  who  had  written 
the  Decline  and  Fall  had  a  right  to  tell  the  world  how 
he  had  been  prepared  for  his  great  task.  He  was,  it  is 
true,  a  vain  man,  foolishly  vain  in  the  opinion  he  enter- 
tained of  his  ridiculous  person,  but  of  this  kind  of  vanity 
there  are  few  traces  to  be  discovered  in  his  autobiography. 
There  is  pride  enough,  unveiled  consciousness  of  high 
desert,  "a  lofty  and  steady  confidence  in  himself1'.  This 
is  not  indeed  displayed  with  Milton's  noble  and  severe 
dignity.  It  is  the  pride  of  a  great  man  who  has  worn  a 
periwig  all  his  life.  If  now  and  then  we  smile  at  the 
manner  in  which  it  is  set  forth,  nevertheless  we  admit  his 
claim. 

"  Sume  superbiam 
Quaesitam  meritis." 

We  the  more  readily  forgive  his  pride  from  the  pleasure 
we  take  in  reading;  his  account  of  the  formation  of  the 
strong  character  by  which  it  was  justified.  There  is  a 
strange  remark  of  Lowell's,  where,  speaking  of  "that 
element  of  manhood  which,  for  want  of  a  better  name, 
we  call  character,"  he  continues :  "  It  is  something  dis- 
tinct from  genius,  though  all  great  geniuses  are  endowed 
with  it.  Hence  we  always  think  of  Dante  Alighieri,  of 
Michael  Angelo,  of  Will.  Shakespeare,  of  John  Milton, 
while  of  such  men  as  Gibbon  and  Hume  we  merely  recall 
the  works,  and  think  of  them  as  the  author  of  this  and 


x  PREFACE 

that."  That  a  man  of  letters,  such  as  Lowell,  should 
have  said  this  of  Hume  surprises  me,  for  "  that  fattest  of 
Epicurus's  hogs,-"  so  Gibbon  described  him,  however  much 
in  his  latter  days  he  courted  ease  and  the  good  opinion  of 
the  world,  nevertheless  even  then  showed  a  curious  and 
interesting  character  of  his  own.  Of  Gibbon  it  is  absurdly 
beside  the  mark.  For  one  reader  who  has  read  his  Decline 
and  Fall,  there  are  at  least  a  score  who  have  read  his 
autobiography,  and  who  know  him,  not  as  the  great  his- 
torian, but  as  a  man  of  a  most  original  and  interesting 
nature.  There  is  no  one  like  him.  No  wonder  that  his 
friends,  both  English  and  French,  used  to  speak  of  him 
as  "  the  Gibbon,  le  Gibbon  ".  He  stands  out,  through  the 
deepening  mists  of  years,  clear  and  strongly  marked,  with 
so  many  other  members  of  the  famous  club,  with  Johnson, 
Goldsmith,  Garrick,  Reynolds  and  Boswell. 

Whether  we  like  him  is  another  question — love  him  we 
certainly  do  not.  There  were  indeed  one  or  two  who 
loved  him,  whose  love  he  had  earned  by  the  steadiness  and 
the  warmth  of  his  friendship.  He  had,  however,  too  much 
of  the  "rational  voluptuary-"  to  be  able  to  win  our  affec- 
tion. His  self-indulgence  we  are  the  more  inclined  to 
despise,  as  in  his  later  years  it  rendered  his  person  ridicu- 
lous through  its  unwieldy  corpulence.  He  had  besides 
other  and  greater  failings.  In  a  young  man,  in  the  full 
flow  of  his  life,  we  are  less  ready  to  forgive  untruthfulness 
than  when  we  come  across  it  in  one  who  is  stricken  with  the 
timidity  of  age.  He  was  only  twenty  when  he  sent,  through 
his  father,  the  falsest  message  of  affection  to  his  unknown 
step-mother,  whom  he  was,  as  he  tells  us,  in  reality  dis- 
posed to  hate  as  his  own  mother's  rival.1  Only  a  few  years 
later,  when  he  should  have  been  still  in  the  generous 
freshness  of  youth,  he  gave  a  friend  that  shameless  advice 

1  Post,  p.  113,  n. 


PREFACE  xi 

about  love  and  married  women  which  Lord  Chesterfield 
gave  in  the  calculating  coldness  of  old  age.1  In  middle 
age,  "  at  the  beginning  of  the  memorable  contest  between 
Great  Britain  and  America,"  he  took  his  seat  in  Parlia- 
ment. At  such  a  time  a  man,  deeply  read  as  he  was  in 
the  reverses  of  great  empires,  might  well  have  been  swayed 
by  none  but  the  loftiest  of  motives.  When  he  looked 
back  upon  that  "school  of  civil  prudence,"  in  which  he 
had  sat  for  eight  sessions,  where,  by  many  a  silent  vote,  he 
had  supported  those  measures  which  gave  his  country  the 
deepest  wound  she  has  ever  suffered,  he  owned  that  in 
entering  Parliament  all  his  views  had  been  bounded  by 
the  hope  of  the  sinecure  office  which  he  at  length  attained 
at  the  Board  of  Trade.2  We  are  set  against  him  moreover 
by  the  indecency  of  his  writings,  however  much  he  "  veiled 
it  in  the  obscurity  of  a  learned  language ".  We  might 
have  found  some  excuse  for  a  wantonness  which  sprang 
from  strong  passions ;  but  who  can  forgive  "  une  obscenite 
erudite  et  froide  "  ? 3 

To  set  off  against  these  grievous  faults  there  was  that 
noble  and  unwearying  industry  which  has  given  the  world 
The  History  of  the  Decline  arid  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire. 
To  this  industry  was  added  an  accuracy  which  Porson  pro- 
nounces to  be  scrupulous,  and  his  latest  editor,  amazing.  If 
he  is  sometimes  unfair,  if  "his  humanity  never  slumbers 
unless  when  women  are  ravished  or  the  Christians  perse- 
cuted," he  does  not  intentionally  alter  or  even  suppress  facts. 
Through  fourteen  long  centuries  spreads  the  track  of  his 
toilsome  and  accurate  investigations.  To  him,  too,  might 
be  applied  in  large,  though  not  in  full  measure,  that 
praise  which  he  bestowed  on  Bayle :  that  "  Nature  had 
designed  him  to  think  as  he  pleased,  and  to  speak  as  he 

1  Post,  p.  153.  2  Post,  p.  193,  n. 

3  It  is  thus  that  Sainte-Beuve  describes  it.     Post,  p.  231,  n. 


xii  PREFACE 

thought".  If  at  times  he  veiled  his  scepticism  with  an 
affectation  of  belief,  part  of  the  blame  must  be  borne  by 
the  law  of  the  land,  which  still  held  the  threat  of  three 
years'  imprisonment  over  anyone  who,  having  been  educated 
in  the  Christian  religion  should,  by  writing,  deny  it  to  be 
true.  "Christianity,"  wrote  Blackstone,  "is  part  of  the 
laws  of  England."  Offences  against  it  "  are  punishable  by 
fine  and  imprisonment  or  other  infamous  corporal  punish- 
ment". Many  years  after  Gibbon's  time  men  were  im- 
prisoned for  "  profane  scoffing  at  the  Holy  Scriptures,"  for 
doing  rudely  and  avowedly  what  he  had  done  politely  and 
covertly.  After  the  long  war  that  he  had  waged  against 
the  stifling  of  truth  by  the  Church  of  Rome,  his  fall  was 
deep  indeed,  when,  under  the  terror  inspired  by  the 
French  Revolution,  he  urged  some  Portuguese  gentlemen 
not  to  give  up,  at  such  a  crisis,  the  Inquisition. 

The  publication  that  closely  followed  on  the  hundredth 
anniversary  of  his  death  of  the  six  sketches  from  which  the 
autobiography  was  compiled  threw  a  most  interesting 
light  on  the  great  historian's  method  of  work.  To  Mr. 
John  Murray — who  by  the  purchase  of  the  copyright, 
first  made  them  public — every  student  of  our  literature  is 
deeply  indebted.  To  his  enterprise,  moreover,  they  owe 
the  two  volumes  of  correspondence,  in  which  a  large  addi- 
tion was  made  to  the  letters  of  Gibbon  already  in  print. 
Grateful  acknowledgment  also  is  due  to  Miss  Jane  H. 
Adeane,  the  editor  of  that  charming  book,  Tlie  Girlhood 
of  Maria  Josepha  Holroyd,  where  we  see  our  hero  in 
that  pleasant  mansion  which  he  spoke  of  as  his  English 
home,  and  also  in  that  other  home  which  he  had  above 
the  banks  of  the  Leman  Lake,  whose  "prospect  was 
crowned  by  the  stupendous  mountains  of  Savoy". 

Important  as  was  the  publication  of  these  sketches,  it 
had  not  the  full  importance  assigned  to  it  by  the  present 


PREFACE  xiii 

Earl  of  Sheffield  in  his  introduction  to  the  volume.     The 
blunder  into  which  he  has  fallen  is  strange  indeed.     John- 
son, I  am  aware,  "was  of  opinion,  that  when  a  man   of 
rank  appeared  in  the  character  of  a  candidate  for  literary 
fame,  he  deserved  to  have  his  merit  handsomely  allowed  ". 
I  might,  therefore,  perhaps  have  concealed  my  astonish- 
ment at  his  lordship's  mistake  had  he  not  been  counten- 
anced   in    it    by    Mr.    Frederic    Harrison,    to    whom    he 
acknowledges  his  "  obligation  for  assistance  in  the  prepara- 
tion and   composition  of  this  preface".     They  are  both, 
therefore,  equally  responsible  for  the  following  statement : 
"A    piece,    most    elaborately    composed    by    one    of    the 
greatest  writers  who  ever  used  our  language,  an  autobio- 
graphy often  pronounced  to  be  the  best  we  possess,  is  now 
proved  to  be  in  no  sense  the  simple  work  of  that  illustrious 
pen,  but  to  have  been  dexterously  pieced  together  out  of 
seven  fragmentary  sketches  and  adapted  into  a  single  and 
coherent  narrative  ".     All  this  should  have  been  known  to 
everyone  who  had  read  the  autobiography  with  any  care, 
for  so   much  as  that  the  first   Lord   Sheffield   tells   in  a 
note   on  the   first  page.     "This  passage,"  he   writes,    "is 
found  in  one  only  of  the  six  sketches,  and  in  that  which 
seems  to  have  been  the  first  written." *     In  the  preface  he 
shows  how  his  part  of  the  work  was  done.     "Although," 
he  writes,  "  I  have  in  some  measure  newly  arranged  those 
interesting  papers  by  forming  one  regular  narrative  from 
the  six  different  sketches,  I  have  nevertheless  adhered  with 
scrupulous    fidelity   to    the   very   words   of  their  author." 
When   nearly   twenty  years   later   on    he   brought    out   a 
second  edition,  he  recalled  the  fact  that  it  was  "  from  six 
different  sketches,  and  from  notes  and  memoranda,  that  the 
memoirs  were  composed  and  formed  ". 

1  What  the  latest  editors  describe  as  the  seventh  sketch  he  included  among 
"loose  unconnected  papers  and  cards  all  in  Mr.  Gibbon's  handwriting". 


xiv  PREFACE 

There  was  no  need  to  exaggerate  the  importance  of 
the  publication  of  these  different  sketches.  If  we  did  not 
learn  for  the  first  time  that  the  autobiography  was  the 
work  of  two  hands,  we  were  at  all  events  admitted  into 
the  very  workshop,  as  it  were,  of  one  of  our  great  writers. 
There  was,  moreover,  opened  to  us  for  the  first  time  many 
a  striking  passage  that  had  been  suppressed  by  Lord 
Sheffield.  The  new  work,  with  all  its  authenticity  and 
all  its  additions,  can  never  supplant,  however,  the  compila- 
tion which  has  been  the  delight  of  many  generations  of 
readers.  Every  student  of  English  literature  will  have  it 
on  his  shelves;  in  every  library  that  is  worthy  of  the 
name  it  will  have  a  place ;  but  it  is  the  autobiography  as 
it  has  been  known  to  the  world  for  more  than  a  hundred 
years  that  we  shall  read  by  the  fireside. 

Lord  Sheffield  went  beyond  the  strict  truth  in  asserting 
that  he  had  "  adhered  with  scrupulous  fidelity  to  the  very 
words  of  the  author  ".  The  changes  that  he  made  were  by 
no  means  few.  None  was  more  daring  than  the  emenda- 
tion by  which  he  redeemed  the  character  for  gentility  of 
the  Lausanne  boarding-house  where  he  and  the  historian 
first  met.  "The  boarders,"  wrote  Gibbon,  "were  numer- 
ous." "  Numerous  "  offended  his  lordship's  dignity.  In  his 
revised  version  we  read  that  "the  boarders  were  select".1 
Some  changes  he  made  for  propriety's  sake.  Thus  Gibbon, 
after  telling  us  how  his  grandfather,  "at  a  mature  age, 
erected  the  edifice  of  a  new  fortune,"  continued  :  "  I  have 
reason  to  believe  that  the  second  temple  was  not  much 
inferior  to  the  first ".  Temple  was  changed  into  struc- 
ture,"2 and  the  train  of  thought  that  would  have  been 
raised  by  the  allusion  was  lost.  In  the  account  of  his 
"  elopements  "  from  Magdalen  College,  he  wrote :  "  I  was 


1  Post,  p.  156 ;  Autobiography,  p.  208. 

2  Post,  p.  20 ;  Auto.,  p.  16. 


PREFACE  xv 

too  young  and  bashful  to  enjoy,  like  a  manly  Oxonian  in 
town,  the  taverns  and  bagnios  of  Convent  Garden  ".  The 
last  part  of  the  sentence  was  veiled  by  the  editor  under 
the  "  pleasures  of  London  "}  Some  of  the  changes  were 
made  to  lessen  the  author's  display  of  his  own  merits,  and 
some  to  moderate  his  swelling  language.  Of  his  sacrifices 
in  relieving  his  father  from  the  pressure  of  debt  he  wrote  : 
"  Under  these  painful  circumstances  my  own  behaviour 
was  not  only  guiltless  but  meritorious.  Without  stipulat- 
ing any  personal  advantages,  I  consented,  at  a  mature 
and  well-informed  age,  to  an  additional  mortgage,"  etc. 
Under  the  editor's  ruthless  pruning-knife  the  luxuriance  of 
these  words  was  cut  down  to  the  following  bare  state- 
ment :  "  Under  these  painful  circumstances  I  consented  to 
an  additional  mortgage".2  Neither  was  Gibbon  allowed, 
in  his  later  years,  "to  applaud  as  easy  and  happy"  his 
youthful  emendation  of  a  passage  in  Latin.  It  was  enough 
for  the  world  to  know  that  it  was  adopted  by  the  learned 
editor  of  Livy.3  In  these  last  two  instances  there  is 
nothing  more  than  omissions ;  in  the  following  we  have  an 
example  of  the  editor's  simplification  of  his  friend's  exuber- 
ant style.  In  the  autobiography,  as  it  was  given  to  the 
world,  we  read:  "It  had  been  my  intention  to  pass  the 
Alps  in  the  autumn,  but  such  are  the  simple  attractions 
of  the  place  that  the  year  had  almost  expired  before  my 
departure  from  Lausanne  in  the  ensuing  spring".  The  fact 
stated  in  the  words  which  I  have  italicised  had  been  ex- 
pressed by  Gibbon  in  the  three  following  ways,  neverthe- 
less not  one  of  these  could  win  his  editor's  approbation : 
"  The  annual  circle  was  almost  revolved  "  ;  "  the  summer 
was  lost  in  the  autumn  and  succeeding  winter";  "the 
summer  and  autumn  were  lost  in  the  succeeding  winter ". 

1  Post,  p.  65  ;  Autobiography,  p.  82. 

2  Post,  p.  185  ;  Auto.,  p.  287.  z  Post,  p.  100 ;  Auto.,  p.  146. 

b 


xvi  PREFACE 

Nay,  even  in  a  fourth  version,  recasting  the  sentence,  he 
said  :  "  The  simple  charms  of  nature  and  society  detained 
me  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps  till  the  ensuing  spring".1 
"  Whatsoever  may  have  been  the  fruits  of  my  education," 
he  wrote  in  another  passage,  "  they  must  be  ascribed  to 
the  fortunate  shipwreck  which  cast  me  on  the  shores  of 
the  Leman  Lake."  The  metaphor  was  too  bold  to  be 
allowed  to  pass,  so  that  these  fruits  were  ascribed  "  to  the 
fortunate  banishment  which  placed  me  at  Lausanne".2 
Writing  of  his  return  to  England  from  his  continental 
tour,  he  said :  "  I  tore  myself  from  the  embraces  of  Paris. 
...  I  reached  the  rural  mansion  of  my  parents."  This 
was  too  much  for  Lord  Sheffield,  who  made  him  say,  just 
as  if  it  were  an  ordinary  Englishman  coming  home  and 
not  "The  Gibbon":  "I  reluctantly  left  Paris.  ...  I 
arrived  at  my  father's  house." 3  It  was  surely  not  without 
reason  that  the  historian,  in  his  autobiography,  recorded 
of  his  future  editor :  "  My  friend  has  never  cultivated  the 
art  of  composition  ". 

Of  the  suppressions  many  were  due  to  an  unwillingness 
to  cause  scandal  or  to  give  offence.  Thus  in  speaking  of 
his  youthful  essay,  The  Age  of  Sesostris,  and  of  his  solution 
of  a  difficulty  in  the  chronology,  Gibbon  wrote :  "  In  my 
supposition  the  high  priest  is  guilty  of  a  voluntary  error : 
flattery  is  the  prolific  parent  of  falsehood ;  and  falsehood, 
I  will  now  add,  is  not  incompatible  with  the  sacerdotal 
character  ".  The  last  part  of  the  sentence  was  not  allowed 
to  appear  in  print.4  The  writer,  it  seems  likely,  was  not 
thinking  so  much  of  priests  in  general  as  of  the  divines, 
"  the  polemics  of  either  university,"  who  had  discharged 
their   "ecclesiastical   ordnance''''  against   The  Decline  and 


1  Post,  p.  154 ;  Autobiography,  pp.  205,  263,  301,  404. 

2  Post,  p.  108 ;  Auto.,  p.  239.  3  Post,  p.  168 ;  Auto,,  p.  271. 
4  Post,  p.  64;  Auto.,  p.  80. 


PREFACE  xvii 

Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.  If  he  attacked  the  Church  he 
was  not  more  sparing  of  the  military  service.  In  his 
account  of  his  three  years1  service  in  the  militia  he  wrote : 
"  My  temper  was  insensibly  soured  by  the  society  of  our 
rustic  officers,  who  were  alike  deficient  in  the  knowledge  of 
scholars  and  the  manners  of  gentlemen ".  Lord  Sheffield 
did  not  allow  the  latter  half  of  the  sentence  to  appear.1 
An  hour  may  be  pleasantly  spent  in  examining  these  sup- 
pressions in  Mr.  Murray's  edition.  The  brackets  in  which 
they  are  enclosed  make  tracking  them  an  easy  work.  As 
we  read  them  we  find  ourselves  wishing  that  his  lordship 
had  been  as  indiscreet  as  Bos  well. 

Respect  for  Mr.  Murray's  copyright  has  made  me  spar- 
ing in  emendations.  My  text,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
words,  is  Lord  Sheffield's.  It  does  not,  however,  exactly 
correspond  with  either  his  first  or  his  second  edition ;  for  it 
contains  two  or  three  passages  which  are  found  only  in  one 
or  other  of  these,  but  not  in  both.  When  he  came  to 
re-edit  the  work  he  made  omissions  as  well  as  additions. 
In  two  recent  reprints  I  was  surprised  to  find  not  a  single 
trace  of  the  famous  passage  in  which  Gibbon  foretold  that 
"  the  romance  of  Tom  Jones,  that  exquisite  picture  of 
human  manners,  will  outlive  the  palace  of  the  Escurial  and 
the  imperial  eagle  of  the  House  of  Austria  ".  In  the  first 
edition  this  exaltation  of  Fielding  over  the  Habsburghs 
does  not  appear,  and  it  was  from  this  edition  that  these  two 
reprints  were  made.  On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Murray,  who 
evidently  had  the  second  edition  before  him,  has  marked 
as  "portions  hitherto  unpublished1'  some  passages  which 
are  included  in  the  first  edition.  One  striking  description 
I  do  not  find  in  any  one  of  the  seven  sketches,  though 
undoubtedly  it  comes  from  Gibbon's  hand.  It  is  where 
he  shows  his  readers  Lord  North  seated  on  the  Treasury 

1  Post,  p.  138 ;  Autobiography,  p.  189. 


xviii  PREFACE 

Bench,    supported    by   Thurlow    and    Wedderburne,    and 
opposed  by  Barre  and  Dunning,  by  Burke  and  Fox.1 

The  letters  and  long  extracts  from  Gibbon's  journal, 
both  in  English  and  French,  inserted  as  footnotes  by  Lord 
Sheffield,  are,  in  the  present  edition,  either  for  the  most 
part  omitted  or  else  are  transferred  to  the  appendix.  In 
giving  an  appendix  as  well  as  footnotes  I  am  following  the 
example  set  by  Professor  Bury  in  his  learned  edition  of 
The  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Gibbon 
himself  began  by  placing  all  his  notes  at  the  end  of  each 
volume.  With  reluctance,  yielding  to  "the  public  im- 
portunity, he  removed  them,"  in  later  editions,  "  to  the 
bottom  of  the  page ".  One  of  my  chief  aims  has  been  to 
throw  light  on  Gibbon's  character  from  his  own  writings. 
Many  of  my  notes  are  drawn  from  The  Decline  and  Fall 
of  the  Roman  Empire,  and  many  from  the  five  volumes  of 
his  Miscellaneous  Works.  Of  his  correspondence,  too,  I 
have  made  great  use.  To  Mr.  Murray  we  owe  a  large 
debt  of  gratitude  for  printing  the  letters  exactly  as  they 
were  written.  We  discovered  for  the  first  time  the  daring 
liberties  Lord  Sheffield  had  at  times  taken  in  giving  to  the 
world  a  patchwork  of  extracts  as  one  entire  letter.  Thus, 
on  page  95  of  the  second  volume  of  the  Miscellaneous 
Works,  there  is  a  short  letter,  dated  13th  October,  1772. 
It  contains  but  four  paragraphs.  Of  these  the  first  was 
written  on  21st  April  of  that  year,  the  second  on  3rd 
October,  the  third  on  3rd  November,  the  first  four  lines 
of  the  fourth  on  30th  October,  the  next  two  lines  on  15th 
October,  and  the  last  on  30th  October.2  On  the  date 
given  by  his  lordship,  not  a  single  word  was  written. 
This,  however,  is  an  extreme  case. 


1  See  Post,  p.  192,  and  Autobiography,  p.  310,  where  this  passage  should  be 
found. 

2  See  Correspondence,  i.,  155,  165,  166,  169. 


PREFACE  xix 

Though  by  far  the  larger  part  of  my  quotations  from 
the  Correspondence  are  found  in  the  first  two  volumes  of 
the  Miscellaneous  Works,  nevertheless,  for  the  convenience 
of  my  reader,  my  references  are  to  Mr.  Murray's  edition 
of  the  Correspondence. 

To  Lord  Sheffield's  daughter,  Maria  Josepha  Holroyd, 
whose  Girlhood  has  delighted  many  a  reader,  is  commonly 
attributed,  since  the  recent  publications,  a  large  share  in 
that  excellent  piece  of  work  by  which,  out  of  seven  frag- 
ments, was  formed  one  almost  perfect  whole.  In  the 
preface  to  the  Autobiography  we  are  told  that  "she 
evidently  marked  the  manuscripts  in  pencil  handwriting 
(now  recognised  as  hers)  for  the  printer's  copyist.  These 
pencil  deletions,  transpositions  and  even  additions  corre- 
spond with  the  Autobiography  as  published  by  Lord 
Sheffield".  Nothing  can  justly  be  inferred  from  this,  for 
we  learn  from  one  of  her  own  letters  that  she  often  was 
her  father's  amanuensis.  Three  months  before  Gibbon's 
death,  she  wrote :  "  I  think  the  excursion  to  Tunbridge 
Wells  will  be  a  good  thing  for  papa,  because  he  will 
be  more  engaged,  and  he  will  not  write  or  use  his  eyes, 
which  he  will  do,  even  by  candle  light,  at  home  some- 
times, though  we  write  for  him  all  the  morning".1 
Eight  months  later  she  mentions  the  engagement  of  a 
secretary,  "  recommended  by  Mr.  Hayley,  who  had  him 
from  Mr.  Cowper,  the  author  of  Tlw  Task.  He  is  about 
sixteen ;  has  had  a  good  education  ;  can  read  Latin  and 
French ;  and  is  to  have  £20  a  year,  and  to  live  with  the 
servants.  He  will  be  particularly  useful,  as  papa  intends 
to  undertake  the  arrangement  of  Mr.  Gibbon's  memoirs 
and  letters  for  the  public  eye."2  She  tells  us,  moreover, 
whose  assistance  it   was   that  her  father  did   use  in   the 


1  The  Girlhood  of  Maria  Josepha  Holroyd,  p.  243. 
3  lb.,  p.  286. 


xx  PKEFACE 

more  difficult  part  of  his  task.  Writing  on  28th  August, 
1794,  of  the  arrival  at  Sheffield  Place  of  William  Hay  ley, 
the  poet,  with  a  barrister  named  More,  who  spoke  sensibly 
and  clearly,  but  with  "  the  pertness  and  conceit  natural  to  all 
young  lawyers,"  she  continued  :  "  Mr.  Hayley,  Mr.  More 
and  Miss  Poole  are  closeted  reading  Mr.  Gibbon's  memoirs, 
etc.,  and  Mr.  Hayley  thinks  a  great  deal  must  be  omitted 
in  publication.  I  hope  his  advice  will  be  taken,  for  I 
have  a  great  opinion  of  his  judgment.'1  A  fortnight  later 
she  wrote :  "  I  was  quite  happy  that  papa  and  he  agreed 
in  every  material  point  relative  to  the  memoirs,  etc. 
They  found  much  to  lop  off;  but  much,  very  much,  of  a 
most  interesting  nature  will  remain,  and  by  Mr.  Hayley's 
assistance  I  think  such  a  work  will  appear  next  spring  as 
the  public  have  not  been  treated  with  for  many  years. 
.  .  .  Mr.  More  was  an  excellent  person  to  attend  the 
committee.  He  was  as  good  a  judge  as  the  two  others  in 
point  of  sense  and  feeling ;  at  the  same  time  that  being 
unprejudicial  to  Mr.  Gibbon  as  a  friend,  he  gave  the 
opinion  of  an  impartial  person,  which  frequently  furnished 
the  other  members  of  the  committee  with  useful  hints." l 
Eighteen  months  later,  when  "the  Gibbonian  memoirs" 
were  going  through  the  press,  she  wrote :  "  Milady  [her 
stepmother,  the  second  Lady  Sheffield]  and  I  are  excellent 
devils,  and  corrected  yesterday  three  sheets  of  sixteen 
pages  each".2  There  is  not  a  word  to  show  that  she 
played  anything  but  a  minor  part  in  the  work  of  editing. 
It  was,  we  must  assume,  as  the  amanuensis,  perhaps  of  the 
"  committee,"  perhaps  of  her  father  only,  that  she  marked 
the  manuscripts. 

I  discovered  with  real  regret  in  the  course  of  my  reading 
that  two  passages  that  throw  a  charm  over  the  genealogies 

1  The  Girlfiood  of  Maria  Josepha  Holroyd,  p.  303. 

2  lb.,  p.  365. 


PREFACE  xxi 

with  which  the  autobiography  opens  had  been  proved  to 
be  mere  illusions.  To  that  pride  of  descent  "from  a 
patron  and  martyr  of  learning,"  which  Gibbon  felt  as  "  a 
man  of  letters,"  he  had  no  j  ust  claim.  More  than  a  hundred 
years  ago  Sir  Egerton  Brydges  showed  that  the  historian 
was  not  sprung  from  the  Baron  Say  and  Seale  who  was 
murdered  by  Jack  Cade  for  the  crime  of  "erecting  a 
grammar  school,""  and  "  building  a  paper  mill  contrary  to 
the  king,  his  crown  and  dignity"".1  In  our  own  day  Mr. 
J.  H.  Round  has,  at  a  blow,  demolished  the  fabric  by 
which  Henry  Fielding  and  his  kinsmen,  the  Earls  of 
Denbigh,  were  made  "  the  brethren "  of  "  the  successors 
of  Charles  the  Fifth".2 

I  have  done  my  best  to  trace  the  quotations  and  allu- 
sions which  are  scattered  throughout  the  autobiography. 
Two,  however,  have  baffled  me,  though  I  have  con- 
sulted some  of  the  best  Latin  scholars  in  three  univer- 
sities. No  one  can  tell  me  in  what  poet  is  to  be  found 
the  lines : — 

"  Manus  haec  inimica  tyrannis 
Ense  petit  placidam  sub  libertate  quietem  "  ; 

nor  who  wrote :  "  Est  sacrificulus  in  pago,  et  rusticos 
decipit  ".3 

I  have  to  acknowledge  the  kind  assistance  which  I  have 
received  from  Mr.  G.  K.  Fortescue,  the  Keeper  of  Printed 
Books  in  the  British  Museum,  who  has  once  more  facilitated 
my  researches  in  the  library  in  every  way  in  his  power,  and 
has  besides  allowed  me  to  draw  freely  on  his  wide  know- 
ledge. Gibbon  lamented  the  want  of  a  public  library  "  in 
the  greatest  city  of  the  world ".  Had  he  lived  in  these 
happier  days,  even  the  charms  of  Lausanne  might  not 
have   been  strong  enough    to  draw  him  away  from   the 

1  Post,  p.  ii,  «.  2.  2  lb.,  p.  5,  n.  2.  3  lb. ,  pp.  102,  171. 


xxii  PREFACE 

British  Museum.  There,  if  anywhere,  is  to  be  found  that 
Respublica  Literatorum  to  whom  Bodley  dedicated  his 
noble  library. 

To  the  President  of  Magdalen  College  I  am  indebted,  both 
for  the  assistance  he  gave  me  in  my  investigations  into  the 
state  of  his  college  as  it  was  in  the  middle  of  last  century, 
and  also  for  drawing  my  attention  to  General  Meredith 
Read's  Historic  Studies  in  Vaud,  Berne  and  Savoy,  a  work  in 
which  is  described  in  the  greatest  detail  Lausanne  and  its 
inhabitants  as  they  were  known  to  Gibbon.  The  general 
had  the  run,  as  it  were,  of  all  the  garrets  in  the  houses  of 
the  old  families  of  that  town,  in  which  were  stored  up 
the  dusty  records  of  past  generations.  Many  a  memorial 
did  he  find  of  Gibbon  himself.  He  dined  off  the  AVedge- 
wood  ware  which  the  historian  had  sent  for  from  England, 
while  the  table  was  furnished  with  his  table  linen,  so 
ample  had  been  the  store  and  so  durable  the  quality.  He 
even  had  a  glimpse,  though  only  a  glimpse,  of  the  few 
remaining  bottles  of  the  great  man's  Madeira.  Letters 
and  other  documents  he  discovered  in  large  numbers, 
many  of  them  in  Gibbon's  handwriting,  and  many  in 
Voltaire's  and  Rousseau's.  None  of  these,  unfortunately, 
with  one  solitary  exception,  has  he  given  in  the  original. 
Everything  he  has  translated.  One  letter  of  Gibbon's,  and 
one  only,  is  printed  in  the  French  in  which  it  was  written. 
It  was  thought  better  (to  borrow,  with  a  change  of  one 
word,  a  line  from  The  Decline  and  Fall)  "  to  veil  it  in  the 
obscurity  of  a  foreign  language  "}  A  real  service  would 
be  done  to  literature  were  the  most  interesting  of  these 
papers  published  in  their  original  form. 

My  task  in  editing  this  famous  autobiography  has  cost 
me  many  months  more  work  than  I  had  counted  on  when 
my  publisher  first  asked  me  to  undertake  it.     It  has,  how- 

1  See  Post,  p.  153,  11  4. 


PREFACE  xxiii 

ever,  been  a  labour  of  love.     If  I  succeed  in  winning-  the 
approval  of  scholars  I  shall  be  fully  repaid. 

G.  B.  H. 

Hampstead, 
April  4,  1900. 1 

1  The  following  are  the  editions  of  the  works  to  which  I  most  frequently 
refer  : — 

Gibbon's  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  edited  by  J. 
B.  Bury,  7  vols.     London.     Methuen  &  Company,  1897. 

Gibbon's  Miscellaneous  Works,  edited  by  John,  Lord  Sheffield.  Second 
edition,  5  vols.     London.     John  Murray,  1814. 

Gibbon's  Correspondence,  edited  by  Rowland  E.  Prothero,  2  vols.  London. 
John  Murray,  1896. 

Gibbon's  Autobiographies,  edited  by  John  Murray.  Second  edition,  2  vols. 
London.     John  Murray,  1897. 

Boswell's  Life  of  Johnson,  edited  by  George  Birkbeck  Hill,  6  vols.  Claren- 
don Press,  1887. 

Voltaire.     CEuvres  Completes,  66  torn.     Paris,  1819-25. 

The  title  of  the  present  edition  is  Gibbon's  own.  I  found  it,  in  his  hand- 
writing, in  the  manuscript  of  the  various  sketches  of  the  Autobiography  now 
preserved  in  the  British  Museum. 


xxiv  ADVERTISEMENT 


EXTRACTS 

FROM 

LORD  SHEFFIELD'S 
ADVERTISEMENT  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION 

OF   THE 

MISCELLANEOUS  WORKS  OF  MR.  GIBBON. 

The  melancholy  duty  of  examining  the  papers  of  my  de- 
ceased friend  devolved  upon  me  at  a  time  when  I  was 
depressed  by  severe  afflictions. 

In  that  state  of  mind,  I  hesitated  to  undertake  the  task 
of  selecting  and  preparing  his  manuscripts  for  the  press. 
The  warmth  of  my  early  and  long  attachment  to  Mr. 
Gibbon  made  me  conscious  of  a  partiality  which  it  was 
not  proper  to  indulge,  especially  in  revising  many  of  his 
juvenile  and  unfinished  compositions.  I  had  to  guard, 
not  only  against  a  sentiment  like  my  own,  which  I  found 
extensively  diffused,  but  also  against  the  eagerness  occa- 
sioned by  a  very  general  curiosity  to  see  in  print  every 
literary  relic,  however  imperfect,  of  so  distinguished  a 
writer. 

Being  aware  how  disgracefully  authors  of  eminence  have 
been  often  treated  by  an  indiscreet  posthumous  publica- 
tion of  fragments  and  careless  effusions  ;  when  I  had  selected 
those  papers  which,  to  myself,  appeared  the  fittest  for  the 
public  eye,  I  consulted  some  of  our  common  friends, 
whom  I  knew  to  be  equally  anxious  with  myself  for  Mr. 


TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION  xxv 

Gibbon's  fame,  and  fully  competent  from  their  judgment 
to  protect  it. 

Under  such  a  sanction  it  is  that,  no  longer  suspecting 
myself  to  view  through  too  favourable  a  medium  the  com- 
positions of  my  friend,  I  now  venture  to  publish  them : 
and  it  may  here  be  proper  to  give  some  information  to 
the  reader  respecting  the  contents  of  these  volumes. 

The  most  important  part  consists  of  memoirs  of  Mr. 
Gibbon's  life  and  writings,  a  work  which  he  seems  to  have 
projected  with  peculiar  solicitude  and  attention,  and  of 
which  he  left  six  different  sketches,  all  in  his  own  hand- 
writing. One  of  these  sketches,  the  most  diffuse  and  cir- 
cumstantial  so  far  as  it  proceeds,  ends  at  the  time  when 
he  quitted  Oxford.  Another  at  the  year  1764,  when  he 
travelled  to  Italy.  A  third,  at  his  father's  death  in  1770. 
A  fourth,  which  he  continued  to  March  1791,  appears  in 
the  form  of  annals,  much  less  detailed  than  the  others. 
The  two  remaining  sketches  are  still  more  imperfect. 
But  it  is  difficult  to  discover  the  order  in  which  these 
several  pieces  were  written.  From  all  of  them  the 
following  memoirs  have  been  carefully  selected  and  put 
together. 

My  hesitation  in  giving  these  memoirs  to  the  world 
arose  principally  from  the  circumstance  of  Mr.  Gibbon's 
seeming,  in  some  respect,  not  to  have  been  quite  satisfied 
with  them,  as  he  had  so  frequently  varied  their  form :  yet, 
notwithstanding  this  diffidence,  the  compositions,  though 
unfinished,  are  so  excellent,  that  I  think  myself  j  ustified  in 
permitting  my  friend  to  appear  as  his  own  biographer, 
rather  than  to  have  that  office  undertaken  by  any  other 
person  less  qualified  for  it. 

This  opinion  has  rendered  me  anxious  to  publish  the 
present  memoirs  without  any  unnecessary  delay ;  for  I  am 
persuaded  that  the  author  of   them  cannot  be  made  to 


xxvi  ADVERTISEMENT 

appear  in  a  truer  light  than  he  does  in  the  following  pages. 
In  them,  and  in  his  different  letters,  which  I  have  added, 
will  be  found  a  complete  picture  of  his  talents,  his  disposi- 
tion, his  studies,  and  his  attainments. 

Those  slight  variations  of  character,  which  naturally 
arose  in  the  progress  of  his  life,  will  be  unfolded  in  a  series 
of  letters  selected  from  a  correspondence  between  him  and 
myself,  which  continued  full  thirty  years,  and  ended  with 
his  death. 

It  is  to  be  lamented,  that  all  the  sketches  of  the  memoirs, 
except  that  composed  in  the  form  of  annals,  cease  about 
twenty  years  before  Mr.  Gibbon's  death  ;  and  consequently 
that  we  have  the  least  detailed  account  of  the  most  in- 
teresting part  of  his  life.  His  correspondence  during  that 
period  will,  in  great  measure,  supply  the  deficiency.  It 
will  be  separated  from  the  memoirs,  and  placed  in  an 
appendix,  that  those  who  are  not  disposed  to  be  pleased 
with  the  repetitions,  familiarities  and  trivial  circumstances, 
of  epistolary  writing,  may  not  be  embarrassed  by  it.  By 
many  the  letters  will  be  found  a  very  interesting  part  of 
the  present  publication.  They  will  prove  how  pleasant, 
friendly  and  amiable  Mr.  Gibbon  was  in  private  life ;  and 
if  in  publishing  letters  so  flattering  to  myself  I  incur  the 
imputation  of  vanity,  I  shall  meet  the  charge  with  a  frank 
confession,  that  I  am  indeed  highly  vain  of  having  enjoyed 
for  so  many  years  the  esteem,  the  confidence  and  the  affec- 
tion of  a  man,  whose  social  qualities  endeared  him  to  the 
most  accomplished  society,  and  whose  talents,  great  as 
they  were,  must  be  acknowledged  to  have  been  fully 
equalled  by  the  sincerity  of  his  friendship. 

Whatever  censure  may  be  pointed  against  the  editor, 
the  public  will  set  a  due  value  on  the  letters  for  their 
intrinsic  merit.  I  must  indeed  be  blinded  either  by  vanity 
or  affection,  if  they  do  not  display  the  heart  and  mind  of 


TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION         xxvii 

their  author  in  such  a  manner  as  justly  to  increase  the 
number  of  his  admirers. 

I  have  not  been  solicitous  to  garble  or  expunge  passages 
which  to  some  may  appear  trifling.  Such  passages  will 
often,  in  the  opinion  of  the  observing  reader,  mark  the 
character  of  the  writer ;  and  the  omission  of  them  would 
materially  take  from  the  ease  and  familiarity  of  authentic 
letters. 

Few  men,  I  believe,  have  ever  so  fully  unveiled  their 
own  character,  by  a  minute  narrative  of  their  sentiments 
and  pursuits,  as  Mr.  Gibbon  will  here  be  found  to  have 
done ;  not  with  study  and  labour — not  with  an  affected 
frankness — but  with  a  genuine  confession  of  his  little  foibles 
and  peculiarities,  and  a  good-humoured  and  natural  dis- 
play of  his  own  conduct  and  opinions. 

Mr.  Gibbon  began  a  journal,  a  work  distinct  from  the 
sketches  already  mentioned,  in  the  early  part  of  his  life, 
with  the  following  declaration  : — 

"I  propose  from  this  day  (24th  August,  1761)  to  keep 
an  exact  journal  of  my  actions  and  studies,  both  to  assist 
my  memory,  and  to  accustom  me  to  set  a  due  value  on  my 
time.  I  shall  begin  by  setting  down  some  few  events  of 
my  past  life,  the  dates  of  which  I  can  remember." 

This  industrious  project  he  pursued  occasionally  in 
French,  with  the  minuteness,  fidelity  and  liberality  of  a 
mind  resolved  to  watch  over  and  improve  itself. 

The  journal  is  continued  under  different  titles,  and  is 
sometimes  very  concise,  and  sometimes  singularly  detailed. 
One  part  of  it  is  entitled  "  My  Journal,'"  another  "  Ephe- 
merides,  or  Journal  of  my  Actions,  Studies  and  Opinions ". 
The  other  parts  are  entitled  "  Ephemerides,  ou  Journal  de 
ma  Vie,  de  mes  Etudes,  et  de  mes  Sentimens ".  In  this 
journal,  among  the  most  trivial  circumstances,  are  mixed 
very  interesting  observations  and  dissertations  on  a  satire 


xxviii  ADVERTISEMENT 

of  Juvenal,  a  passage  of  Homer  or  of  Longinus,  or  of  any 
other  author  whose  works  he  happened  to  read  in  the 
course  of  the  day ;  and  he  often  passes  from  a  remark  on 
the  most  common  event,  to  a  critical  disquisition  of  con- 
siderable learning,  or  an  inquiry  into  some  abstruse  point 
of  philosophy. 

It  certainly  was  not  his  intention  that  this  private  and 
motley  diary  should  be  presented  to  the  public ;  nor  have 
I  thought  myself  at  liberty  to  present  it  in  the  shape  in 
which  he  left  it.  But  when  reduced  to  an  account  of  his 
literary  occupations,  it  forms  so  singular  and  so  interesting 
a  portrait  of  an  indefatigable  student,  that  I  persuade 
myself  it  will  be  regarded  as  a  valuable  acquisition  by  the 
literary  world,  and  as  an  accession  of  fame  to  the  memory 
of  my  friend. 

In  the  collection  of  writings  which  I  am  now  sending  to 
the  press,  there  is  no  article  that  will  so  much  engage  the 
public  attention  as  the  memoirs.  I  will,  therefore,  close 
all  I  mean  to  say  as  their  editor,  by  assuring  the  reader, 
that  although  I  have  in  some  measure  newly  arranged  those 
interesting  papers,  by  forming  one  regular  narrative  from 
the  six  different  sketches,  I  have  nevertheless  adhered  with 
scrupulous  fidelity  to  the  very  words  of  their  author ;  and 
I  use  the  letter  S  to  mark  such  notes  as  it  seemed  to  me 
necessary  to  add. 

It  remains  only  to  express  a  wish  that,  in  discharging 
this  latest  office  of  affection,  my  regard  to  the  memory  of 
my  friend  may  appear,  as  I  trust  it  will  do,  proportioned 
to  the  high  satisfaction  which  I  enjoyed  for  many  years 
in  possessing  his  entire  confidence,  and  very  partial 
attachment. 

Sheffield. 

Sheffield  Place, 
6th  Aug.,  1795. 


TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION       xxix 


EXTRACT 


FROM 


LORD  SHEFFIELD'S 
ADVERTISEMENT  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  memoirs  were  composed 
and  formed  from  six  different  sketches,  and  from  notes  and 
memoranda  on  loose  unconnected  papers  and  cards,  all  in 
Mr.  Gibbon's  handwriting.  This  new  edition  of  his 
posthumous  works  has  furnished  me  with  the  opportunity 
of  interweaving  several  additional  extracts  from  the  same 
sources;  illustrating  and  enlarging  the  memoirs,  where 
they  were  most  scanty,  by  notes  principally  selected  from 
his  journal. 

Sheffield. 

Sheffield  Place, 
24th  Nov.,  1814. 


MEMOIRS 

OF 

MY  LIFE  AND  WRITINGS 


I"N  the  fifty-second  year  of  my  age,  after  the  completion  of  an 
arduous  and  successful  work,  I  now  propose  to  employ  some 
moments  of  my  leisure  in  reviewing  the  simple  transactions 
of  a  private  and  literary  life.  Truth,  naked  unblushing  truth, 
the  first  virtue  of  more  serious  histoxy,  must  be  the  sole 
recommendation  of  this  personal  narrative.  The  style  shall 
be  simple  and  familiar ;  but  style  is  the  image  of  character,1 
and  the  habits  of  correct  writing  may  produce,  without  labour 
or  design,  the  appearance  of  art  and  study.2  My  own  amuse- 
ment is  my  motive,  and  will  be  my  reward  :  and  if  these  sheets 
are  communicated  to  some  discreet  and  indulgent  friends, 
they  will  be  secreted  from  the  public  eye  till  the  author  shall 
be  removed  beyond  the  reach  of  criticism  or  ridicule.3 

1  [See  post,  p.  190,  where  he  says  that  "  the  style  of  an  author  should  be  the 
image  of  his  mind".  Buffon  had  said  before  him:  "  Le  style  est  l'homme 
meme".  If  style  is  the  image  of  character,  the  general  absence  of  style  is 
explained  by  Pope,  who  says : — 

"  Most  women  have  no  characters  at  all  " 

{Moral  Essays,  ii.,  2)  ; 
and  by  Johnson,  who  goes  still  further,  maintaining  that  "the  greater  part  of 
mankind  have  no  character  at  all  "  (Johnson's  Works,  viii.,  355).  Wordsworth, 
criticising  Johnson's  assertion,  says  that  "  every  man  has  a  character  of  his  own 
to  the  eve  that  has  skill  to  perceive  it"  (Wordsworth's  Works,  ed.  1857,  vi., 
3i6).] 

2  ["  He  that  has  once  studiously  formed  a  style  rarely  writes  afterwards  with 
complete  ease  "  (Johnson's  Works,  viii.,  284).] 

:!  This  passage  is  found  in  one  only  of  the  six  sketches,  and  in  that  which 
seems  to  have  been  the  first  written,  and  which  was  laid  aside  among  loose 
papers.  Mr.  Gibbon,  in  his  communications  with  me  on  the  subject  of  his 
Memoirs,  a  subject  which  he  had  never  mentioned  to  any  other  person,  ex- 
pressed a  determination  of  publishing  them  in  his  lifetime ;  and  never  appears  to 
have  departed  from  that  resolution,  excepting  in  one  of  his  letters  annexed,  in 
which  he  intimates  a  doubt,  though  rather  carelessly,  whether  in  his  time,  or  at 
any  time,  they  would  meet  the  eye  of  the  public.  In  a  conversation,  however, 
not  long  before  his  death,  I  suggested  to  him  that,  if  he  should  make  them 
a  full  image  of  his  mind,  he  would  not  have  nerves  to  publish  them,  and  there- 
fore that  they  should  be  posthumous.  He  answered,  rather  eagerly,  that  he 
was  determined   to   publish    them    in    his  lifetime. — Sheffield.      [For  the 


2  EDWARD  GIBBON 

A  lively  desire  of  knowing  and  of  recording  our  ancestors 
so  generally  prevails,  that  it  must  depend  on  the  influence  of 
some  common  principle  in  the  minds  of  men.  We  seem  to 
have  lived  in  the  persons  of  our  forefathers ;  it  is  the  labour 
and  reward  of  vanity  to  extend  the  term  of  this  ideal  longevity. 
Our  imagination  is  always  active  to  enlarge  the  narrow  circle 
in  which  Nature  has  confined  us.  Fifty  or  an  hundred  years 
may  be  allotted  to  an  individual,  but  we  step x  forwards  beyond 
death  with  such  hopes  as  religion  and  philosophy  will  suggest ; 
and  we  fill  up  the  silent  vacancy  that  precedes  our  birth,  by 
associating  ourselves  to  the  authors  of  our  existence.  Our 
calmer  judgment  will  rather  tend  to  moderate,  than  to  sup- 
press, the  pride  of  an  ancient  and  worthy  race.  The  satirist 
may  laugh,2  the  philosopher  may  preach  ;3  but  Reason  herself 

"letter  annexed,"  dated  January  6,  1793,  see  Corres.,  ii.,  357.  He  writes: 
"  Of  the  Memoirs  little  has  been  done,  and  with  that  little  I  am  not  satisfied. 
They  must  be  postponed  till  a  mature  season  ;  and  I  much  doubt  whether  the 
book  and  the  author  can  ever  see  the  light  at  the  same  time."  On  December 
28,  1791,  he  had  written:  "I  have  much  revolved  the  plan  of  the  Memoirs 
I  once  mentioned,  and,  as  you  do  not  think  it  ridiculous,  I  believe  I  shall 
make  an  attempt.  If  I  can  please  myself  I  am  confident  of  not  displeasing ; 
but  let  this  be  a  profound  secret  between  us  ;  people  must  not  be  prepared  to 
laugh,  they  must  be  taken  by  surprise  "  (id. ,  ii. ,  280).  Even  by  this  earlier  date 
he  had  made  more  than  one  attempt.  A  sketch  that  forms  an  important  part 
of  the  Memoirs  as  published  was  finished  on  March  2,  1791  (Auto.,  p.  349).] 

1  [In  the  original,  "  stretch  "  (Auto.,  p.  417).] 

2  ["  Stemmata  quid  faciunt  ?    Quid  prodest,  Pontice,  longo 
Sanguine  censeri,  pictosque  ostendere  vultus 
Majorum,  et  stantes  in  curribus  ^Emilianos, 
Et  Curios  jam  dimidios,  humeroque  minorem 
Corvinum,  et  Galbam  oculis  nasoque  carentem  ?" 

(Juvenal,  Sat.  viii.,  1.) 
Savage  writes  in  the  opening  lines  of  The  Bastard: — 

"  He  lives  to  build,  not  boast,  a  generous  race; 
No  tenth  transmitter  of  a  foolish  face  ". 
Young  says  of  the  nobleman  : — 

"  He  stands  for  fame  on  his  forefathers'  feet, 

By  heraldry  prov'd  valiant  or  discreet. 

With  what  a  decent  pride  he  throws  his  eyes 

Above  the  man  by  three  descents  less  wise ! 

If  virtues  at  his  noble  hands  you  crave, 

You  bid  him  raise  his  father's  from  the  grave. 

Men  should  press  forward  in  fame's  glorious  chase  ; 

Nobles  look  backward,  and  so  lose  the  race." 

(The  Universal  Passion,  Sat.  i.,  1.  131.)] 
3  ["The  sophists  of  every  age,  despising,  or  affecting  to  despise,  the  acci- 
dental distinctions  of  birth  and  fortune,  reserve  their  esteem  for  the  superior 
qualities  of  the  mind,  with  which  they  themselves  are  so  plentifully  endowed" 
(  The  Decline,  ii. ,  486).] 


MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  3 

will  respect  the  prejudices  and  habits,  which  have  been  con- 
secrated by  the  experience  of  mankind.1  Few  there  are  who 
can  sincerely  despise  in  others  an  advantage  of  which  they 
are  secretly  ambitious  to  partake.  The  knowledge  of  our  own 
family  from  a  remote  period  will  be  always  esteemed  as  an 
abstract  pre-eminence,  since  it  can  never  be  promiscuously 
enjoyed  ;  but  the  longest  series  of  peasants  and  mechanics 
would  not  afford  much  gratification  to  the  pride  of  their 
descendant.  We  wish  to  discover  our  ancestors,  but  we  wish 
to  discover  them  possessed  of  ample  fortunes,  adorned  with 
honourable  titles,  and  holding  an  eminent  rank  in  the  class  of 
hereditary  nobles,  which  has  been  maintained  for  the  wisest 
and  most  beneficial  purposes  in  almost  every  climate  of  the 
globe,  and  in  almost  every  modification  of  political  society.2 

Wherever  the  distinction  of  birth  is  allowed  to  form  a 
superior  order  in  the  state,  education  and  example  should 
always,  and  will  often,  produce  among  them  a  dignity  of 
sentiment  and  propriety  of  conduct,  which  is  guarded  from 
dishonour  by  their  own  and  the  public  esteem.  If  we  read 
of  some  illustrious  line  so  ancient  that  it  has  no  beginning, 
so  worthy  that  it  ought  to  have  no  end,  we  sympathize  in  its 
various  fortunes  ;  nor  can  we  blame  the  generous  enthusiasm, 
or  even  the  harmless  vanity,  of  those  who  are  allied  to  the 
honours  of  its  name.  For  my  own  part,  could  I  draw  my 
pedigree  from  a  general,  a  statesman,  or  a  celebrated  author, 
I  should  study  their  lives  with  the  diligence  of  filial  love.  In 
the  investigation  of  past  events,  our  curiosity  is  stimulated  by 

1  [The  rest  of  the  paragraph  to  "  political  society  "  first  appears  in  the  second 
edition.  In  its  arrangement  it  differs  in  some  places  from  the  original,  which 
in  Auto.,  p.  417,  is  marked  as  hitherto  unpublished.] 

2  ["But,  sir  (said  Johnson),  as  subordination  is  very  necessary  for  society, 
and  contentions  for  superiority  very  dangerous,  mankind,  that  is  to  say,  all 
civilised  nations,  have  settled  it  upon  a  plain,  invariable  principle.  A  man  is 
born  to  hereditary  rank  ;  or  his  being  appointed  to  certain  offices  gives  him  a 
certain  rank.  Subordination  tends  greatly  to  human  happiness.  Were  we 
all  upon  an  equality  we  should  have  no  other  enjoyment  than  mere  animal 
pleasure"  (Boswell's  Johnson,  i. ,  442). 

Satan  maintained  in  Hell  that 

' '  Orders  and  degrees 
Jar  not  with  liberty,  but  well  consist  ". 

(Paradise  Lost,  v.,  792.)] 


4  EDWARD  GIBBON 

the  immediate  or  indirect  reference  to  ourselves  ;  but  in  the 
estimate  of  honour  we  should  learn  to  value  the  gifts  of  Nature 
above  those  of  Fortune  ;  to  esteem  in  our  ancestors  the  quali- 
ties that  best  promote  the  interests  of  society ;  and  to  pronounce 
the  descendant  of  a  king  less  truly  noble  than  the  offspring  of 
a  man  of  genius,  whose  writings  will  instruct  or  delight  the 
latest  posterity.1  The  family  of  Confucius  is,  in  my  opinion, 
the  most  illustrious  in  the  world.  After  a  painful  ascent  of 
eight  or  ten  centuries,  our  barons  and  princes  of  Europe  are 
lost  in  the  darkness  of  the  middle  ages  ;  but,  in  the  vast 
equality  of  the  empire  of  China,  the  posterity  of  Confucius 
have  maintained,  above  two  thousand  two  hundred  years,  their 
peaceful  honours  and  perpetual  succession.  The  chief  of  the 
family  is  still  revered,  by  the  sovereign  and  the  people,  as  the 
lively  image  of  the  wisest  of  mankind.  The  nobility  of  the 
Spencers  has  been  illustrated  and  enriched  by  the  trophies  of 
Marlborough  ;  but  I  exhort  them  to  consider  the  Fairy  Queen  2 
as  the  most  precious  jewel  of  their  coronet.  Our  immortal 
Fielding  was  of  the  younger  branch  of  the  Earls  of  Denbigh, 
who  draw  their  origin  from  the  Counts  of  Habsburgh,  the  lineal 
descendants  of  Ethico,  in  the  seventh  century,  Duke  of  Alsace.3 
Far  different  have  been  the  fortunes  of  the  English  and  German 
divisions  of  the  family  of  Habsburgh  ;  the  former,  the  knights 
and  sheriffs  of  Leicestershire,  have  slowly  risen  to  the  dignity 

1  ["  Few  there  are  who  dare  trust  the  memorials  of  their  family  to  the  public 
annals  of  their  country  "  (The  Decline,  vi.,  460).] 

2  "  Nor  less  praiseworthy  are  the  ladies  [sisters]  three, 
The  honour  of  that  noble  familie, 
Of  which  I  meanest  boast  myself  to  be." 

(Spenser,  Colin  Clout,  etc.,  v.,  538.) — Gibbon. 
[The  second  daughter  of  the  great  Duke  of  Marlborough  married  Charles 
Spencer,  Earl  of  Sunderland,  whose  eldest  son  succeeded  his  aunt,  Henrietta, 
Duchess  of  Marlborough,  in  the  Dukedom.     From  the  Earl's  youngest  son, 
Gibbon's  friend,  the  second  Earl  Spencer,  was  descended.] 

3  [Gibbon  gives  a  brief  account  of  Ethico  in  his  "  Antiquities  of  the  House  of 
Brunswick, ' '  Misc.   Works,  iii. ,  504. 

' '  The  origin  of  this  family  [the  Habsburg]  has  been  a  constant  puzzle  to  the 
fertile  imaginations  of  genealogists.  Some  among  them  trace  it  back  to  the 
Merovingians,  others  to  the  Carolingians  ;  others,  again,  to  that  Duke  Ethico, 
of  Alamania,  who  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  common  stock  from  which 
sprang  the  houses  of  Habsburg,  Lorraine  and  Baden"  (Leger's  Austro-Hun- 
gary,  English  trans.,  p.  141).] 


MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  5 

of  a  peerage  ; '  the  latter,  the  Emperors  of  Germany  and 
Kings  of  Spain,  have  threatened  the  liberty  of  the  old,  and 
invaded  the  treasures  of  the  new  world.  The  successors  of 
Charles  the  Fifth  may  disdain  their  brethren  of  England  ;  but 
the  romance  of  Tom  Jones,  that  exquisite  picture  of  human 
manners,  will  outlive  the  palace  of  the  Escurial,  and  the 
imperial  eagle  of  the  house  of  Austria. - 

That  these  sentiments  are  just,  or  at  least  natural,  I  am 
inclined  to  believe,  since  I  do  not  feel  myself  interested  in 
the  cause  ;  for  I  can  derive  from  my  ancestors  neither  glory 
nor  shame.8  Yet  a  sincere  and  simple  narrative  of  my  own 
life  may  amuse  some  of  my  leisui*e  hours  ;  but  it  will  subject 
me,  and  perhaps  with  justice,  to  the  imputation  of  vanity.  I 
may  judge,  however,  from  the  experience  both  of  past  and  of 

1  ["Geffery,  Earl  of  Hapsburgh,  by  the  oppression  of  Rodolph,  Emperor  of 
Germany,  being  reduced  to  extreme  poverty,  one  of  his  sons,  named  Geffery, 
served  King  Henry  III.  in  his  wars  in  England,  and  because  his  father  had 
pretensions  to  the  dominions  of  Laufenburgh  and  Rinfilding,  he  took  the  name 
of  Fielding  "  (Collins's  Peerage,  ed.  1756,  ii.,  247).  The  peerage  was  conferred 
by  James  I.  (id.,  p.  251). 

The  novelist  "  being  in  company  with  the  Earl  of  Denbigh,  his  kinsman, 
the  Earl  asked  him  how  it  was  that  he  spelled  his  name  '  Fielding '  and  not 
'Feilding,'  like  the  head  of  the  house.  'I  cannot  tell,  my  Lord,'  said  he, 
'  except  it  be  that  my  branch  of  the  family  were  the  first  that  knew  how  to 
spell '  "  (Thackeray's  English  Humourists,  ed.  1858,  p.  282).] 

2  ["  There  can  be  no  gainsaying  the  sentence  of  this  great  judge.  To  have 
your  name  mentioned  by  Gibbon  is  like  having  it  written  on  the  dome  of  St. 
Peter's.  Pilgrims  from  all  the  world  admire  and  behold  it"  (id.,  p.  275). 
Gibbon  again  praises  Tom/ones,  post,  p.  243,  n.  In  The  Decline,  iii. ,  363.  he  speaks 
of  it  as  "  the  romance  of  a  great  master,  which  may  be  considered  as  the  history 
of  human  nature  ".  Mr.  J.  H.  Round,  in  The  Genealogist,  New  Series,  x.,  193, 
has  "demonstrated  that  the  Habsburg  descent  of  the  Fieldings  is  an  absurd 
fiction".  It  first  appeared  in  print,  he  believes,  in  1656,  in  Dugdale's  War- 
wickshire. The  splendour  of  Gibbon's  language  is  but  a  "  baseless  fabric  "  ; 
happily  the  pageant,  insubstantial  though  it  may  be,  shall  never  fade  away. 

The  Earls  of  Denbigh  may  be  consoled-  If  they  have  lost  the  Habsburghs, 
of  Henry  Fielding  they  cannot  be  deprived.] 

3  [Gibbon,  writing  to  John  Nichols  about  his  ancestry,  says  :  "  Modesty,  or 
the  affectation  of  modesty,  may  repeat  the  Vix  ea  nostra  voco ;  but  experience 
has  proved  that  there  is  scarcely  any  man  of  a  tolerable  family  who  does  not 
wish  to  know  as  much  as  he  can  about  it ;  nor  is  such  an  ambition  either  foolish 
in  itself,  or  hurtful  to  society  "  (Nichols,  Lit.  Anec. ,  viii. ,  557).  Gibbon's  quota- 
tion is  from  Ovid's  Metamorphoses ,  xiii.,  140  : — 

"  Genus,  et  proavos,  et  quae  non  fecimus  ipsi, 
Vix  ea  nostra  voco  ". 
Thus  Englished  by  Johnson  (Rambler,  No.  46)  :— 

"  Nought  from  my  birth  or  ancestors  I  claim  ; 
All  is  my  own,  my  honour  and  my  shame".] 


6  EDWARD  GIBBON 

the  present  times,  that  the  public  are  always  curious  to  know 
the  men,  who  have  left  behind  them  any  image  of  their  minds  : 
the  most  scanty  accounts  of  such  men  are  compiled  with 
diligence,  and  perused  with  eagerness  : ;  and  the  student  of 
every  class  may  derive  a  lesson,  or  an  example,  from  the  lives 
most  similar  to  his  own.  My  name  may  hereafter  be  placed 
among  the  thousand  articles  of  a  Biographia  Britannica 2  ; 
and  I  must  be  conscious,  that  no  one  is  so  well  qualified,  as 
myself,  to  describe  the  series  of  my  thoughts  and  actions. 
The  authority  of  my  masters,  of  the  grave  Thuanus,3  and  the 
philosophic  Hume,4  might  be  sufficient  to  justify  my  design  ; 
but  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  produce  a  long  list  of  ancients 
and  moderns,  who,  in  various  forms,  have  exhibited  their  own 
portraits.  Such  portraits  are  often  the  most  interesting,  and 
sometimes  the  only  interesting  parts  of  their  writings  ;  and  if 
they  be  sincere,  we  seldom  complain  of  the  minuteness  or 
prolixity  of  these  personal  memorials.  The  lives  of  the 
younger  Pliny,  of  Petrarch,  and  of  Erasmus,  are  expressed  in 
the  epistles,  which  they  themselves  have  given  to  the  world. 
The  essays  of  Montaigne  and  Sir  William  Temple  bring  us 
home  to  the  houses  and  bosoms  of  the  authors  5  :    we  smile 


1["  The  biographical  part  of  literature,"  said  Johnson,  "  is  what  I  love  most  " 
(Boswell's  Johnson,  i.,  425).] 

2 [Horace  Walpole  {Works,  L,  412)  speaks  of  "the  benign  author  of  the 
Biographia  Britannica,  a  work  which  I  cannot  help  calling  vindicatio  Britan- 
nica, or  a  defence  of  everybody  ".] 

3  [The  French  historian  De  Thou,  whose  Historia  sui  Temporis  in  138  books 
Johnson  once  thought  of  translating  (Boswell's  Johnson,  iv.,  410;  see  also  ib., 
i. ,  32).  His  Autobiography  is  in  vol.  vii.  of  the  edition  of  his  Historia,  published 
in  London  in  1733. 

Burnet  "  made  him  his  pattern  in  history  ".  See  the  Preface  by  the  Bishop's 
son  to  Burnet's  Hist,  of  His  Own  Time,  p.  3.  Gibbon  includes  him  with  Hume 
in  what  he  calls  ' '  a  small  but  venerable  synod  of  historians  ".  ' '  Since  the  origin 
of  Theological  Factions  some  historians,  Ammianus  Marcellinus  [post,  p.  i3i], 
Fra-Paolo,  Thuanus,  Hume,  and  perhaps  a  few  others,  have  deserved  the 
singular  praise  of  holding  the  balance  with  a  steady  and  equal  hand  "  [Misc. 
Works,  iv.,  624).] 

4  [Hume's  brief  autobiography,  written  shortly  before  his  death,  was  prefixed 
to  the  later  editions  of  his  History.  I  have  edited  it  in  my  edition  of  his  Letters 
to  William  Strahan.] 

5  [Gibbon  perhaps  had  running  in  his  head  the  passage  where  Bacon,  in  the 
dedication  of  his  Essays,  says  that  ' '  they  come  home  to  men's  business  and 
bosoms".] 


MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  7 

without  contempt  at  the  headstrong  passions  of  Benevenuto 
Cellini,  and  the  gay  follies  of  Colley  Gibber.1  The  confessions 
of  St.  Austin  and  Rousseau  disclose  the  secrets  of  the  human 
heart ;  the  commentaries  of  the  learned  Huet  2  have  survived 
his  evangelical  demonstration ;  and  the  memoirs  of  Goldoni 
are  more  truly  dramatic  than  his  Italian  comedies.  The 
heretic  and  the  churchman  are  strongly  marked  in  the  charac- 
ters and  fortunes  of  Whiston  3  and  Bishop  Newton 4 ;  and 
even  the  dullness  of  Michael  de  Marolles 5  and  Anthony 
Wood  °  acquires  some  value  from  the  faithful  representation 
of  men  and  manners.  That  I  am  equal  or  superior  to  some 
of  these,  the  efforts "  of  modesty  or  affectation  cannot  force 
me  to  dissemble. 


1  [Horace  Walpole  {Letters,  v.,  197)  said  that  "Gibber's  Apology  deserved 
immortality  ".] 

2  [Huet,  Bishop,  of  Avranches,  published  in  1718  Commentariiis  de  rebus  ad 
eum  pcrtinnitibus.  Sainte-Beuve,  quoting  some  "vers  badins "  of  Voltaire's 
on  Huet,  continues:  "  Soyez  done  la  plume  la  plus  savante  de  l'Europe, 
l'homme  de  la  plus  vaste  lecture  qui  fut  jamais,  le  dernier  de  cette  forte  race  des 
savants  du  xve  et  du  xvie  siecle,  .  .  .  et  tout  cela  pour  que,  sitot  apres  vous, 
on  ne  sache  plus  que  votre  nom,  et  qu'on  n'y  rattache  qu'une  idee  vague,  un 
sourire  n6  d'une  plaisanterie !  Ah  !  que  le  sage  Huet  avait  raison  quand  il 
d^montrait  presque  geomelriquement  quelle  vanity  et  quelle  extravagance  e'est 
de  croire  qu'il  y  a  une  reputation  qui  nous  appartienne  apres  notre  mort  !  " 
[Causeries,  ii. ,  163.)] 

•;["  The  honest,  pious,  visionary  Whiston,"  Gibbon  calls  him  [The  Decline, 
iv. ,  433).  Though  he  was  heretic  enough  to  be  banished  from  the  University  of 
Cambridge  for  his  Arianism  (Whiston s  Memoirs,  p.  173 ;  Monk's  Bentley,  i. , 
290),  he  was  as  superstitious  as  the  most  orthodox.  In  1746  he  gave  notice 
that  the  Millennium  would  begin  in  1766,  when  "there  will  be  no  more  an 
infidel  in  Christendom,  and  there  will  be  no  more  a  gaming-table  at  Tunbridge  " 
[Memoirs,  p.  398).  He  had  once  fixed  an  earlier  date.  Horace  Walpole 
[Letters,  i. ,  381)  mentions  "the  Duchess  of  Bolton's  geographical  resolution 
of  going  to  China,  when  Whiston  told  her  the  world  would  be  burnt  in  three 
years".] 

4  [Post,  p.  an.] 

"["Michel  de  Marolles  (1600-1681)  composa  soixante-neuf  ouvrages,  dont 
plusieurs  £taient  des  traductions  tres  utiles  dans  leur  temps "  [CEuvres  de 
Voltaire,  xvii.,  124).] 

H["  Mr.  Joyner  told  me  Mr.  Wood  used  often  to  come  to  him,  and  that  he 
told  him  many  stories  which  he  (Mr.  Wood)  penned  down  in  his  presence,  and 
when  anything  pleased  Mr.  Wood,  he  would  always  cry  Hum,  upon  which 
Mr.  Joyner  would  go  on  to  expatiate"  (Hearne's  Remains,  ed.  1869,  iii. ,  70). 

"May  4,  1781.  Mine  a  great  character!  Mercy  on  me!  I  am  a  com- 
position of  Anthony  Wood  and  Madame  Danois  [d'Aulnoy],  and  I  know  not 
what  trumpery  writers"  (Horace  Walpole's  Letters,  viii.,  34).] 

7  [In  Lord  Sheffield's  editions,  "  effects  ".] 


8  EDWARD  GIBBON 

My  family  is  originally  derived  from  the  county  of  Kent.1 
The  southern  district,  which  borders  on  Sussex  and  the  sea, 
was  formerly  overspread  with  the  great  forest  Anderida,  and 
even  now  retains  the  denomination  of  the  Weald  or  Woodland. 
In  this  district,  and  in  the  hundred  and  parish  of  Rolvenden, 
the  Gibbons  were  possessed  of  lands  in  the  year  one  thousand 
three  hundred  and  twenty-six ;  and  the  elder  branch  of  the 
family,  without  much  increase  or  diminution  of  property,  still 
adheres  to  its  native  soil.  Foui'teen  years  after  the  first 
appearance  of  his  name,  John  Gibbon  is  recorded  as  the 
Marmorarius  or  architect  of  King  Edward  the  Third  :  the 
strong  and  stately  castle  of  Queensborough,  which  guarded 
the  entrance  of  the  Medway,  was  a  monument  of  his  skill ; 
and  the  grant  of  an  hereditary  toll  on  the  passage  from  Sand- 
wich to  Stonar,  in  the  Isle  of  Thanet,  is  the  reward  of  no 
vulgar  artist.  In  the  visitations  of  the  heralds,  the  Gibbons 
are  frequently  mentioned  ;  they  held  the  rank  of  Esquire  in 
an  age,  when  that  title  was  less  promiscuously  assumed  2  :  one 
of  them,  under  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  was  captain  of 
the  militia  of  Kent ;  and  a  free  school,  in  the  neighbouring 
town  of  Benenden,  proclaims  the  charity  and  opulence  of  its 
founder.3     But  time,  or  their  own  obscurity,  has  cast  a  veil  of 

1  [Part  of  the  history  of  his  family  he  derives  from  a  letter  in  The  Gent.  Mag., 
1788,  p.  698.  In  a  letter  to  John  Nichols,  the  editor,  he  calls  it  "  a  very  curious 
and  civil  account  of  the  Gibbon  family".  Nichols  forwarded  to  him  some 
"genealogical  documents  relating  to  Mr.  Gibbon's  family;  amongst  them 
'  some  Remarques  of  the  Family  of  me,  John  Gibbon,  Bluemantle  Pursuivant 
at  Arms,'  with  a  full  pedigree  of  the  family,  and  several  emblazoned  arms" 
(Nichols,  Lit.  Anec,  viii.,  557;   Corres.,  ii.,  301,  328).] 

2["  Esquires  and  gentlemen,"  writes  Blackstone,  "are  confounded  together 
by  Sir  Edward  Coke,  who  observes  that  every  esquire  is  a  gentleman,  and  a 
gentleman  is  defined  to  be  one  qui  arma  gerit,  who  bears  coat-armour,  the 
grant  of  which  adds  gentility  to  a  man's  family.  ...  It  is,  indeed,  a  matter 
somewhat  unsettled,  what  constitutes  the  distinction,  or  who  is  a  real  esquire." 
Here  follows  an  enumeration  of  the  various  sorts  of  esquires  (Commentaries, 
ed.  1775,  i.,  406). 

So  early  as  1709  The  Tatler  (No.  19)  wrote  :  "  In  a  word  it  is  now  Papains 
Armigerorum,  a  people  of  Esquires.  And  I  don't  know  but  by  the  late  act  of 
naturalisation,  foreigners  will  assume  that  title  as  part  of  the  immunity  of  being 
Englishmen."  Eighty  years  later  Boswell  says  that ' '  the  appellation  of  Gentleman 
was  lost  in  the  indiscriminate  assumption  of  Esquire"  (Life  of  Johnson,  i.,  34).] 

3[Benenden  is  near  Rolvenden.  "Edward  Gibbon,  in  1602,  founded  a 
school,  which  has  been  subsequently  endowed  with  property  producing  ^114 
per  annum"  (Lewis's  Topog.  Diet.,  ed.  1835,  under  Benenden).] 


MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  9 

oblivion  over  the  virtues  and  vices  of  my  Kentish  ancestors  ; 
their  character  or  station  confined  them  to  the  labours  and 
pleasures  of  a  rural  life  :  nor  is  it  in  my  power  to  follow  the 
advice  of  the  Poet,  in  an  inquiry  after  a  name, — 

Go !  searcli  it  there,  where  to  be  born,  and  die, 
Of  rich  and  poor  makes  all  the  history.1 

So  recent  is  the  institution  of  our  parish  registers.2  In  the 
beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  a  younger  branch  of  the 
Gibbons  of  Rolvenden  migrated  from  the  country  to  the  city  ; 
and  from  this  branch  I  do  not  blush  to  descend.  The  law  re- 
quires some  abilities  ;  the  church  imposes  some  restraints  ;  and 
before  our  army  and  navy,  our  civil  establishments,  and  Indian 
empire,  had  opened  so  many  paths  of  fortune,  the  mercantile 
profession  was  more  frequently  chosen  by  youths  of  a  liberal 
race  and  education,  who  aspired  to  create  their  own  indepen- 
dence. Our  most  respectable  families  have  not  disdained  the 
counting-house,  or  even  the  shop  ;  their  names  are  enrolled  in 
the  Livery  and  Companies  of  London  ;  and  in  England,  as  well 
as  in  the  Italian  commonwealths,  heralds  have  been  compelled 
to  declare  that  gentility  is  not  degraded  by  the  exercise  of 
trade.3 

The  armorial  ensigns  which,  in  the  times  of  chivalry,  adorned 
the  crest  and  shield  of  the  soldier,  are  now  become  an  empty 
decoration,  which  every  man,  who  has  money  to  build  a 
carriage,  may  paint  according  to  his  fancy  on  the  panels.4 
My  family  arms  are  the  same,  which  were  borne  by  the 
Gibbons  of   Kent  in  an  age,    when  the  College  of   Heralds 

1  [Pope,  Moral  Essays,  iii. ,  287.] 

2["  Church  Register  was  instituted  30  Henry  VIII."  John  Gibbon's  Intro- 
ductio  ad  Latinam  Blasoniam,  Preface. 

In  The  Gent.  Mag.,  1785,  p.  93,  a  copy  is  given  of  a  "  Constitution"  of  the 
year  1597,  "  in  which  it  was  ordeyned  how  the  Register  Bookes  must  be  sauffly 
kept".] 

3  [See  Appendix  1]. 

4  [Blackstone,  writing  of  "  the  court  military,  or  court  of  chivalry"  says  that 
' '  its  civil  jurisdiction  is  principally  in  two  points  ;  the  redressing  injuries  of 
honour,  and  correcting  encroachments  in  matters  of  coat-armour,  precedency, 
and  other  distinctions  of  families.  .  .  .  It  is  the  business  of  this  court,  accord- 
ing to  Sir  Matthew  Hale,  to  adjust  the  right  and  armorial  ensigns,  bearings, 
crests,  supporters,  pennons,  etc."  [Commentaries,  ed.  1775,  iii.,  103-5).] 


10  EDWARD  GIBBON 

religiously  guarded  the  distinctions  of  blood  and  name  :  a 
lion  rampant  gardant,  between  three  schallop-shells  argent, 
on  a  field  azure.1  I  should  not  however  have  been  tempted 
to  blazon  my  coat  of  arms,  were  it  not  connected  with  a 
whimsical  anecdote. — About  the  reign  of  James  the  First, 
the  three  harmless  schallop-shells  were  changed  by  Edmund 
Gibbon  esq.  into  three  Ogresses,  or  female  cannibals,2  with 
a  design  of  stigmatizing  three  ladies,  his  kinswomen,  who 
had  provoked  him  by  an  unjust  law-suit.  But  this  singular 
mode  of  revenge,  for  which  he  obtained  the  sanction  of  Sir 
William  Seagar,  king  at  arms,  soon  expired  with  its  author ; 
and,  on  his  own  monument  in  the  Temple  church,  the 
monsters  vanish,  and  the  three  schallop-shells  resume  their 
proper  and  hereditary  place. 

Our  alliances  by  marriage  it  is  not  disgraceful  to  mention. 
The  chief  honour  of  my  ancestry  is  James  Fiens,  Baron  Say 
and  Seale,  and  Lord  High  Treasurer  of  England,  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  the  Sixth  ;  from  whom  by  the  Phelips,  the  Whet- 
nalls,  and  the  Cromers,  I  am  lineally  descended  in  the  eleventh 
degx*ee.a  His  dismission  and  imprisonment  in  the  Tower 
were  insufficient  to  appease  the  popular  clamour  ;  and  the 
Treasurer,  with  his  son-in-law  Cromer,  was  beheaded  (1450), 
after  a  mock  trial  by  the  Kentish  insurgents.  The  black  list 
of  his  offences,  as  it  is  exhibited  in  Shakespeare,4  displays  the 
ignorance  and  envy  of  a  plebeian  tyrant.  Besides  the  vague 
reproaches  of  selling  Maine  and  Normandy  to  the  Dauphin, 
the  Treasurer  is  specially  accused  of  luxury,  for  riding  on  a 
foot-cloth  ;  and  of  treason,  for  speaking  French,  the  language 
of  our  enemies  :  "  Thou  hast  most  traitorously  corrupted  the 
youth  of  the  realm,"  says  Jack  Cade  to  the  unfortunate  Lord, 

1  The  father  of  Lord  Chancellor  Hardwicke  married  an  heiress  of  this  family 
of  Gibbon.  The  Chancellor's  escutcheon  in  the  Temple  Hall  quarters  the  arms 
of  Gibbon,  as  does  also  that,  in  Lincoln's  Inn  Hall,  of  Charles  York,  Chan- 
cellor in  1770. — Sheffield. 

2  [For  an  explanation  of  this  "  heraldic  pun  "  see  Auto.,  p.  4,  n.] 

3  [The  descent  was  through  Robert  Gibbon,  from  whom  he  was  not  sprung, 
according  to  Brydges.     See  note  2  on  next  page.] 

4  [2  Henry  VI. ,  Act  iv. ,  Scenes  2  and  7.  ] 


MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  11 

"  in  erecting  a  grammar-school  ;  and  whereas  before  our  fore- 
fathers had  no  other  books  than  the  score  and  the  tally,  thou 
hast  caused  printing  to  be  used  ;  and,  contrary  to  the  king, 
his  crown,  and  dignity,  thou  hast  built  a  paper-mill.  It  will 
be  proved  to  thy  face,  that  thou  hast  men  about  thee,  who 
usually  talk  of  a  noun  and  a  verb,  and  such  abominable  words, 
as  no  christian  ear  can  endure  to  hear."  Our  dramatic  poet 
is  generally  more  attentive  to  character  than  to  history  ;  and 
I  much  fear  that  the  art  of  printing  was  not  introduced  into 
England,  till  several  years  after  Lord  Say's  death  ;  but  of 
some  of  these  meritorious  crimes  I  should  hope  to  find  my 
ancestor  guilty  ;  and  a  man  of  letters  may  be  proud  of  his 
descent  from  a  patron  and  martyr  of  learning. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  last  century  Robert  Gibbon  esq. 
of  Rolvenden  in  Kent1  (who  died  in  1618),  had  a  son  of 
the  same  name  of  Robert,  who  settled  in  London,  and  be- 
came a  member  of  the  Clothworkers'  Company.  His  wife 
was  a  daughter  of  the  Edgars,  who  flourished  about  four 
hundred  years  in  the  county  of  Suffolk,  and  produced  an 
eminent  and  wealthy  serjeant-at-law,  Sir  Gregory  Edgar,  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  the  Seventh.  Of  the  sons  of  Robert 
Gibbon  (who  died  in   1643),  Matthew2  did  not  aspire  above 


1  Robert  Gibbon,  my  lineal  ancestor  in  the  fifth  degree,  was  captain  of  the 
Kentish  militia,  and  as  he  died  in  the  year  1618  it  may  be  presumed  that  he 
had  appeared  in  arms  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  invasion.  His  wife  was 
Margaret  Phillips,  daughter  of  Edward  Phillips  de  la  Weld  in  Tenterden,  and 
of  Rose  his  wife,  daughter  of  George  Whitnell  of  East  Peckham,  esquire. 
Peckham,  the  seat  of  the  Whitnells  in  Kent,  is  mentioned,  not  indeed  much 
to  its  honour,  in  the  Mimoires  du  Comte  de  Grammont  [Knglish  ed. ,  1876,  p. 
292],  a  classic  work,  the  delight  of  every  man  and  woman  of  taste  to  whom  the 
French  language  is  familiar  [post,  p.  133]. — Gibbon.  [East  Peckham  is  between 
Tunbridge  and  Maidstone.] 

2  [Sir  S.  E.  Brydges  in  The  Gent.  Mag.,  1796,  p.  271,  says  that :  "  Matthew 
Gibbon  was  the  son  of  Thomas  Gibbon,  of  Westcliffe  near  Dover,  gent.,  of  a 
totally  different,  and  more  distant  branch  of  the  Rolvenden  family,  who  was  a 
man  of  considerable  landed,  and  personal  property".  Thomas's  grandfather, 
also  Thomas  Gibbon,  was  "  a  wealthy  and  illiterate  yeoman.  He  died  in 
1596."  Matthew  Gibbon's  mother  was  sister  to  the  wife  of  Sir  John  Maynard, 
the  old  serjeant-at-law,  who,  but  for  the  coming  of  the  Prince  of  Orange, 
"  would  have  outlived,  not  only  all  the  men  of  the  law  of  his  time,  but  the  law 
itself"  (Burnet's  Hist,  of  His  Own  Tune,  ed.  1818,  ii.,  441).  "  Matthew's  half- 
brother,  Thomas,  married  the  sister  of  Sir  William  Rooke,  father  of  Sir  George 
Rooke  the  admiral."] 


12  EDWARD  GIBBON 

the  station  of  a  linen-draper  in  Leadenhall-street ;  but  John 
has  given  to  the  public  some  curious  memorials  of  his  exist- 
ence,  his  character,  and   his  family.     He   was   born  on   the 
third    of  November    in    the   year    1629;  his    education    was 
liberal,  at  a  grammar  school,  and  afterwards  in  Jesus  College 
at  Cambridge  ;  and  he  celebrates  the  retired  content  which 
he  enjoyed  at  Allesborough,  in  Worcestershire,  in  the  house 
of  Thomas   Lord   Coventry,1   where    he   was   employed  as  a 
domestic  tutor,  the  same  office  which  Mr.   Hobbes  exercised 
in   the   Devonshire   family.2     But  the  spirit  of  my   kinsman 
soon   immerged    into    more    active    life  :  he    visited    foreign 
countries  as  a  soldier  and  a  traveller,  acquired  the  knowledge 
of  the  French  and  Spanish  languages,  passed  some  time  in 
the  Isle  of  Jersey,  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  resided  upwards 
of  a   twelvemonth   (1659)   in   the   rising  colony   of  Virginia. 
In    this   remote    province    his    taste,    or   rather    passion,    for 
heraldry  found  a  singular  gratification  at  a  war-dance  of  the 
native  Indians.     As  they  moved  in  measured  steps,  brandish- 
ing  their  tomahawks,    his    curious    eye   contemplated   their 
little   shields   of  bark,  and   their  naked  bodies,  which  were 
painted  with  the  colours  and  symbols  of  his  favourite  science. 
"  At    which    I    exceedingly   wondered  ;  and    concluded    that 
heraldry  was  ingrafted  naturally  into  the  sense  of  human  race. 
If  so,  it  deserves   a  greater  esteem  than   now-a-days   is  put 
upon  it."  3      His  return  to  England  after  the  Restoration  was 
soon   followed   by   his   marriage — his   settlement  in   a   house 
in  St.   Catherine's  Cloister,  near  the  Tower,  which  devolved 
to  my  grandfather— and   his  introduction   into  the  Heralds' 
College  (in  1 671)  by  the  style  and  title  of  Blue-mantle  Pur- 

1  [The  second  Earl  of  Coventry.     Allesborough  is  close  to  Pershore.] 

2  ["Qui  per  multos  annos  servivit  duobus  comitibus  Devonian  (patri  et  filio)." 
So  Hobbes  described  himself  in  his  epitaph  (Aubrey's  Brief  Lives  ed.  A. 
Clark,  i.,  386).]  J 

3  \Introd-uctio,  etc.,  p.  156.  La  Fontaine  might  have  had  this  passage  in 
mind  when  he  wrote  (Fables,  x.,  16):— 

"  Le  noble  poursuivit : 
Moi,  je  sais  le  blason  ;  j'en  veux  tenir  £cole. 
Comme  si,  devers  l'lnde,  on  eut  eu  dans  l'esprit 
La  sotte  vanity  de  ce  jargon  frivole  !  "] 


MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  13 

suivant  at  Arms.  In  this  office  he  enjoyed  near  fifty  years 
the  rare  felicity  of  uniting,  in  the  same  pursuit,  his  duty  and 
inclination  :  his  name  is  remembered  in  the  College,  and 
many  of  his  letters  are  still  preserved.  Several  of  the  most 
respectable  characters  of  the  age,  Sir  William  Dugdale,1  Mr. 
Ashmole,  Dr.  John  Betts  and  Dr.  Nehemiah  Grew,  were  his 
friends ;  and  in  the  society  of  such  men,  John  Gibbon  may 
be  recorded  without  disgrace  as  the  member  of  an  astrological 
club.2  The  study  of  hereditary  honours  is  favourable  to  the 
Royal  prerogative  ;  and  my  kinsman,  like  most  of  his  family, 
was  a  high  Tory  both  in  church  and  state.  In  the  latter  end 
of  the  reign  of  Charles  the  Second,  his  pen  was  exercised 
in  the  cause  of  the  Duke  of  York :  the  Republican  faction  he 
most  cordially  detested ;  and  as  each  animal  is  conscious  of 
its  proper  arms,  the  herald's  revenge  was  emblazoned  on  a 
most  diabolical  escutcheon.3  But  the  triumph  of  the  Whig 
government  checked  the  preferment  of  Blue-mantle  ;  and  he 
was  even  suspended  from  his  office,  till  his  tongue  could  learn 
to  pronounce  the  oath  of  abjuration.4     His  life  was  prolonged 

i  ["  '  Sir  William  Dugdale  avowed  to  mee  that  at  the  time  of  his  birth  .... 
a  swarme  of  bees  came  and  settled  under  the  window  where  hee  was  borne. 
September  18.  Johan.  Gybbon.'  .  .  .  '  He  was  borne  September  12,  1605' 
— from  Mr.  Gibbons,  Blewmantle.  That  afternoon  a  swarme  of  bees  pitch't 
under  his  mother's  chamber-window,  as  it  were  an  omen  of  his  laborious 
collections"  (Aubrey's  Brief  Lives,  i. ,  241).] 

2 ["When  the  king  was  prisoner  in  Carisbrook  Castle,  an  astrologer  was 
consulted  what  hour  would  be  found  most  favourable  to  an  escape  "  (Johnson's 
Works,  vii.,  154.     See  William  Lilly's  History  of  his  Life,  ed.  1826,  pp.  61,  63). 

"  One  of  Dryden's  opinions  will  do  him  no  honour  in  the  present  age,  though 
in  his  own  time,  at  least  in  the  beginning  of  it,  he  was  far  from  having  it  con- 
fined to  himself.  He  put  great  confidence  in  the  prognostications  of  judicial 
astrology"  (Johnson's  Works,  vii.,  300).  Dryden  defended  his  belief  by  the 
authority  of  "not  only  Horace  and  Persius,  but  Augustus  himself  "  (Dryden's 
Works,  ed.  1882,  xiv. ,  167).] 

3 ["Tutus  sit  augustissimus  Rex  Carolus,  Sancti  Fcelicis  Festo  prospere 
natus ;  Celsissimus  Illustrissimus  Dux  Jacobus,  quern  Stellam  Borealem  ante 
multos  annos  praedixere  Vates  ;  et  universa  Stirps  Regia  a  Turba  Fanatica 
Antimonarchica ;  Quibus  Symbolum  et  Insigne  est  Bellua  multorum  Capitum, 
coloris  Diabolici  (viz.  nigri)  in  Campo  sanguineo  (Armes  pour  enquerir,  ut 
dicimus  Gallice).  Clamor  bellicus  :  Iste  est  Haeres,  trucidemus  eum,  et  obtine- 
amus  Haereditatem  "  [Introductio,  etc.,  p.  165).  Littre  defines  armes  a  en- 
qtiirir  as  "  armes  qui,  dtant  contre  les  regies  ordinaires,  font  qu'en  les  voyant 
on  se  demande  la  raison  de  cette  maniere  extraordinaire  ".] 

4  [By  the  act  of  Abjuration,  passed  in  the  last  year  of  William  III.,  "all 
persons  in  any  office,  trust,  or  employment,"  were  required  to  take  an  oath 
abjuring  "the  pretended  Prince  of  Wales"  (Blackstone's  Commentaries,  i., 
368  ;   Smollett's  Hist,  of  England,  ed.  1800,  i.,  436).] 


14  EDWARD  GIBBON 

to  the  age  of  ninety  :  and,  in  the  expectation  of  the  inevitable 
though  uncertain  hour,1  he  wishes  to  preserve  the  blessings 
of  health,  competence,  and  virtue.  In  the  year  1682  he 
published  in  London  his  Introductio  ad  Latinam  Blasoniam,  an 
original  attempt,  which  Camden  had  desiderated,  to  define, 
in  a  Roman  idiom,  the  terms  and  attributes  of  a  Gothic  insti- 
tution.2 It  is  not  two  years  since  I  acquired,  in  a  foreign 
land,  some  domestic  intelligence  of  my  own  family  ;  and  this 
intelligence  was  conveyed  to  Switzerland  from  the  heart  of 
Germany.  I  had  formed  an  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Lunger, 
a  lively  and  ingenious  scholar,  while  he  resided  at  Lausanne 
as  preceptor  to  the  Hereditary  Prince  of  Brunswick?  On  his 
return  to  his  proper  station  of  Librarian  to  the  Ducal  Library 
of  Wolfenbuttel,  he  accidentally  found  among  some  literary 
rubbish  a  small  old  English  volume  of  heraldry,  inscribed  with 
the  name  of  John  Gibbon.  From  the  title  only  Mr.  Longer 
judged  that  it  might  be  an  acceptable  present  to  his  friend ; 
and  he  judged  rightly.  His  manner  is  quaint  and  affected ; 
his  order  is  confused  :  but  he  displays  some  wit,  more  reading, 
and  still  more  enthusiasm  :  and  if  an  enthusiast  be  often 
absurd,  he  is  never  languid.  An  English  text  is  perpetually 
interspersed  with  Latin  sentences  in  prose  and  verse ;  but  in 
his  own  poetry  he  claims  an  exemption  from  the  laws  of 
prosody.  Amidst  a  profusion  of  genealogical  knowledge,  my 
kinsman  could  not  be  forgetful  of  his  own  name  ;  and  to  him  I 
am  indebted  for  almost  the  whole  of  my  information  concern- 
ing the  Gibbon  family.4  From  this  small  work  (a  duodecimo 
of  one   hundred   and    sixty-five   pages)   the  author   expected 

1  ["  Alike  await  th'  inevitable  hour  "  (Gray's  Elegy,  1.  3S)-1 

2  ["  Learned  Camden  (who  addicted  himself  to  Heraldry  in  his  latter  years) 
was  so  out  of  conceit  with  their  terms  (being  for  the  most  part  barbarous),  that 
in  his  Patents  (which  were  always  Latin)  when  he  came  to  the  Description  of 
the  Arms  themselves,  he  made  it  French  "  {Introductio,  etc.,  Preface).] 

3  [The  Prince  fell  at  the  Battle  of  Ligny.  For  Gibbon's  letter  to  Langer 
and  essay  entitled  "The  Antiquities  of  the  House  of  Brunswick,"  see  Misc. 

Works,   iii.,  351.] 

4  Mr.  Gibbon  seems,  after  this  was  written,  to  have  collected  much  additional 
information  respecting  his  family  ;  as  appears  from  a  number  of  manuscripts 
in  my  possession. — Sheffield. 


MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  15 

immortal  fame,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  his  labour  he  sings, 
in  a  strain  of  self- exultation  : — 

Usque  hue  corrigitur  Romana  Blasonia  per  me  ; 

Verborumque  dehinc  barbara  forma  cadat. 
Hie  liber,  in  meritum  si  forsitan  incidet  usum, 

Testis  rite  meae  sedulitatis  erit. 
Quicquid  agat  Zoilus,  ventura  fatebitur  aetas 

Artis  quod  fueram  non  Clypearis  inops. 

Such  are  the  hopes  of  authors  !  In  the  failure  of  those 
hopes  John  Gibbon  has  not  been  the  first  of  his  profession, 
and  very  possibly  may  not  be  the  last  of  his  name.  His 
brother  Matthew  Gibbon,  the  draper,  had  one  daughter  and 
two  sons — my  grandfather  Edward,  who  was  born  in  the  year 
1666,  and  Thomas,  afterwards  Dean  of  Carlisle.  According 
to  the  mercantile  creed,  that  the  best  book  is  a  profitable 
ledger,  the  writings  of  John  the  herald  would  be  much  less 
precious  than  those  of  his  nephew  Edward  :  but  an  author 
professes  at  least  to  write  for  the  public  benefit  ;  and  the 
slow  balance  of  trade  can  be  pleasing  to  those  persons  only  to 
whom  it  is  advantageous.  The  successful  industry  of  my 
grandfather  raised  him  above  the  level  of  his  immediate 
ancestors  ;  he  appears  to  have  launched  into  various  and 
extensive  dealings  :  even  his  opinions  were  subordinate  to 
his  interest  ;  and  I  find  him  in  Flanders  clothing  King 
William's  troops,  while  he  would  have  contracted  with  more 
pleasure,  though  not  perhaps  at  a  cheaper  rate,  for  the  service 
of  King  James.  During  his  residence  abroad  his  concerns  at 
home  were  managed  by  his  mother  Hester,  an  active  and 
notable l  woman.  Her  second  husband  was  a  widower  of 
the  name  of  Acton  :  they  united  the  children  of  their  first 


^Johnson  defines  notable,  used  in  this  sense,  as  "careful,  bustling". 
The  Spectator  (No.  150),  writing  of  men  of  business,  says :  "  I  have  heard 
my  father  say  that  a  broad-brimmed  hat,  short  hair,  and  unfolded  handker- 
chief, were  in  his  time  absolutely  necessary  to  denote  a  Notable  Man  ". 
Lamb,  in  his  Essays  of  Blia,  ed.  1889,  p.  75,  says  that  "  the  wife  of  a  school- 
master ought  to  be  a  busy,  notable  creature".  See  also  Northcote's  Life  of 
Reynolds,  L,  249,  for  Sir  Joshua's  "hearty  laugh"  at  hearing  Goldsmith 
described  as  "a  notable  man".] 


16  EDWARD  GIBBON 

nuptials.  After  his  l  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  Richard 
Acton,  goldsmith  in  Leadenhall-street,  he  gave  his  own  sister 
to  Sir  Whitmore  Acton,  of  Aldenham  ;  and  I  am  thus  con- 
nected, by  a  triple  alliance,  with  that  ancient  and  loyal  family 
of  Shropshire  baronets.  It  consisted  about  that  time  of  seven 
brothers,  all  of  gigantic  stature  ;  one  of  whom,  a  pigmy  of  six 
feet  two  inches,  confessed  himself  the  last  and  least  of  the 
seven  ;  adding,  in  the  true  spirit  of  party,  that  such  men  were 
not  born  since  the  Revolution.  Under  the  Tory  administra- 
tion of  the  four  last  years  of  Queen  Anne  (1710-1714)  Mr. 
Edward  Gibbon  was  appointed  one  of  the  Commissioners  of 
the  Customs  ;  he  sat  at  that  board  with  Prior  "2  ;  but  the 
merchant  was  better  qualified  for  his  station  than  the  poet ; 
since  Lord  Bolingbroke  has  been  heard  to  declare  that  he  had 
never  conversed  with  a  man  who  more  clearly  understood  the 
commerce  and  finances  of  England.3  In  the  year  1716  he 
was  elected  one  of  the  Directors  of  the  South  Sea  Company  ; 
and  his  books  exhibited  the  proof  that,  before  his  acceptance 
of  this  fatal  office,  he  had  acquired  an  independent  fortune  of 
sixty  thousand  pounds. 

But  his  fortune  was  overwhelmed  in  the  shipwreck  of  the 
year  twenty,  and  the  labours  of  thirty  years  were  blasted  in  a 
single  day.  Of  the  use  or  abuse  of  the  South  Sea  scheme,  of 
the  guilt  or  innocence  of  my  grandfather  and  his  brother 
Directors,  lam  neither  a  competent  nor  a  disinterested  judge. 
Yet  the  equity  of  modern  times  must  condemn  the  violent 
and  arbitrary  proceedings,  which  would  have  disgraced  the 
cause  of  justice,  and  would  render  injustice  still  more  odious. 
No  sooner  had  the  nation  awakened  from  its  golden  dream 


1  ["His"  should  refer  to  Acton  the  widower.  It  does  refer,  of  course,  to 
Gibbon's  grandfather.] 

2  [Prior  was  appointed  Commissioner  in  January,  1711-12  (Swift's  Journal  to 
Stella,  Jan.  18,  31,  1711-12).] 

3  [Bolingbroke.  urging  Queen  Anne  to  make  Prior  one  of  the  plenipoten- 
tiaries for  signing  the  Peace  of  Utrecht,  wrote  of  him  :  "  He  is  the  best  versed 
in  matters  of  trade  of  all  your  Majesty's  servants  who  have  been  trusted  in  this 
secret  "  (Johnson's  Lives  of  the  Poets,  viii.,  6).  Prior,  in  earlier  years,  had  been 
a  Commissioner  pf  Trade,  as  Gibbon  the  historian  was  nearly  eighty  years  later 
(post,  p.  207).] 


MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  17 

than  a  popular  and  even  a  Parliamentary  clamour  demanded 
their  victims  :  but  it  was  acknowledged  on  all  sides  that 
the  South  Sea  Directors,  however  guilty,  could  not  be  touched 
by  any  known  laws  of  the  land.  The  speech  of  Lord  Moles- 
worth,  the  author  of  the  State  of  Denmark,1  may  show  the 
temper,  or  rather  the  intemperance,  of  the  House  of  Commons. 
"Extraordinary  crimes  (exclaimed  that  ardent  Whig)  call 
aloud  for  extraordinary  remedies.  The  Roman  lawgivers  had 
not  foreseen  the  possible  existence  of  a  parricide  ;  but  as  soon 
as  the  first  monster  appeared  he  was  sewn  in  a  sack  and  cast 
headlong  into  the  river ;  and  I  shall  be  content  to  inflict  the 
same  treatment  on  the  authors  of  our  present  ruin." 2  His 
motion  was  not  literally  adopted  ;  but  a  bill  of  pains  and 
penalties  was  introduced,  a  retroactive  statute,  to  punish  the 
offences,  which  did  not  exist  at  the  time  they  were  committed. 
Such  a  pernicious  violation  of  liberty  and  law  can  be  excused 
only  by  the  most  imperious  necessity  ;  nor  could  it  be  defended 
on  this  occasion  by  the  plea  of  impending  danger  or  useful 
example.  The  Legislature  restrained  the  persons  of  the 
Directors,  imposed  an  exorbitant  security  for  their  appearance, 
and  marked  their  characters  with  a  previous  note  of  ignominy  : 
they  were  compelled  to  deliver,  upon  oath,  the  strict  value  of 
their  estates ;  and  were  disabled  from  making  any  transfer  or 
alienation  of  any  part  of  their  property.3  Against  a  bill  of 
pains  and  penalties  it  is  the  common  right  of  every  subject  to 

1  ["In  1694  Molesworth  published  his  Account  of  Denmark,  in  which  he 
treats  the  Danes  and  their  monarch  with  great  contempt  ;  and  takes  the 
opportunity  of  insinuating  those  wild  principles  by  which  he  supposes  liberty 
to  be  established,  and  by  which  his  adversaries  suspect  that  all  subordination 
and  government  is  endangered"  (Johnson's  Works,  vii. ,384).  Steele,  in  The 
Plebeian,  No.  1,  said  of  it  :  "  Nothing  can  be  better  writ,  or  more  instructive 
to  any  one  that  values  liberty.  ...  I  wish  gentlemen  would  see  there  how 
Commoners  were  treated  by  the  nobility,  when  they  had  the  power  over  them  " 
(Addison's  Works,  ed.  1856,  v.,  245).] 

2 [Pari.  Hist.,  vii.,  683.] 

3  [T.  Brodrick  wrote  to  his  brother,  Lord  Chancellor  (Ireland)  Middleton,  on 
January  19,  1720-21  :  "  The  directors  had  the  assurance  to  petition  to  be 
heard  by  counsel  against  the  bill,  which  was  rejected  with  the  utmost  indigna- 
tion, although  supported  by  some  of  our  great  men  (which,  by  the  way,  was 
very  ill  relished),  not  only  in  favour  of  the  directors,  but  on  account  of  justice, 
for  that  no  criminal  (how  great  soever)  ought  to  be  condemned  unheard" 
(Coxe's  Walpole,  ii.,  205).] 

2 


18  EDWARD  GIBBON 

be  heard  by  his  counsel  at  the  bar  :  they  prayed  to  be  heard  ; 
their  prayer  was  refused  ;  and  their  oppressors,  who  required 
no  evidence,  would  listen  to  no  defence.  It  had  been  at  first 
proposed  that  one-eighth  of  their  respective  estates  should  be 
allowed  for  the  future  support  of  the  Directors ;  but  it  was 
speciously  urged,  that  in  the  various  shades  of  opulence  and 
guilt  such  an  unequal  proportion  would  be  too  light  for  many, 
and  for  some  might  possibly  be  too  heavy.1  The  character 
and  conduct  of  each  man  were  separately  weighed  ;  but, 
instead  of  the  calm  solemnity  of  a  judicial  inquiry,  the 
fortune  and  honour  of  three  and  thirty  Englishmen  were 
made  the  topic  of  hasty  conversation,  the  sport  of  a  lawless 
majority  ;  and  the  basest  member  of  the  committee,  by  a 
malicious  word  or  a  silent  vote,  might  indulge  his  general 
spleen  or  personal  animosity.  Injury  was  aggravated  by 
insult,  and  insult  was  embittered  by  pleasantry.  Allowances 
of  twenty  pounds,  or  one  shilling,  were  facetiously  moved.2 
A  vague  report  that  a  Director  had  formerly  been  concerned 
in  another  project,  by  which  some  unknown  persons  had  lost 
their  money,  was  admitted  as  a  proof  of  his  actual  guilt.3 
One  man  was  ruined  because  he  had  dropped  a  foolish  speech, 
that  his  horse  should  feed  upon  gold  4  ;  another  because  he 
was  grown  so  proud,  that,  one  day  at  the  Treasury,  he  had 
refused  a  civil  answer  to  persons  much  above  him.5     All  were 

]  [Pari.  Hist.,  vii.,  800.] 

2["  May  25,  1721.  There  was  a  long  debate  about  Sir  John  Blunt;  Mr. 
Laurence  Carter  moved  to  allow  him  only  is."  He  was  allowed  ^1,000  (ib., 
pp.  801-2).] 

3["  Mr.  Robert  Walpole  showed  that  Sir  John  Blunt  was  a  projector  of 
many  years'  standing,  and  had  been  the  author  of  several  fallacious  schemes  by 
which  unwary  persons  had  been  drawn  in  to  their  utter  ruin  "  (ib. ,  p.  801).] 

4  ["  Mr.  Arthur  Moore  moved  to  allow  Mr.  Grigsby  ^10,000  ;  but  another 
member  said  that  since  that  upstart  was  once  so  prodigally  vain  as  to  bid  his 
coachman  feed  his  horses  with  gold,  no  doubt  but  he  could  feed  on  it  himself ; 
and  therefore  he  moved  that  he  might  be  allowed  as  much  gold  as  he  could 
eat.  After  this,  a  motion  being  made  for  allowing  him  ^2,000,  it  was  carried 
without  a  division"  (ib.,  p.  832).] 

5["Mr.  Sloper  instanced  in  Sir  John  Blunt's  behaviour  one  day  at  the 
Treasury,  of  which  he  was  himself  witness,  when  a  relation  of  a  great  man 
asking  Sir  John  for  a  subscription,  the  upstart  knight,  with  a  great  deal  of 
contempt,  bid  him  go  to  his  cousin  Walpole,  and  desire  him  to  sell  his  stock  in 
the  bank,  and  by  that  means  he  might  be  supplied  "  (ib.,  p.  801).] 


MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  19 

condemned,  absent  and  unheard,  in  arbitrary  fines  and  for- 
feitures, which  swept  away  the  greatest  part  of  their  substance. 
Such  bold  oppression  can  scarcely  be  shielded  by  the  omnipo- 
tence of  parliament ;  and  yet  it  may  be  seriously  questioned 
whether  the  judges  of  the  South  Sea  Directors  were  the  true 
and  legal  representatives  of  their  country.  The  first  Parlia- 
ment of  George  the  First  had  been  chosen  (1715)  for  three 
years  :  the  term  had  elapsed,  the  trust  was  expired  ;  and  the 
four  additional  years  (1718-1 722),  during  which  they  continued 
to  sit,  were  derived  not  from  the  people,  but  from  themselves  ; 
from  the  strong  measure  of  the  Septennial  Bill,  which  can  only 
be  paralleled  by  il  serar  di  consiglio  of  the  Venetian  history.1 
Yet  candour  will  own  that  to  the  same  Parliament  every 
Englishman  is  deeply  indebted  :  the  Septennial  Act,  so 
vicious  in  its  origin,  has  been  sanctioned  by  time,  experience, 
and  the  national  consent.  Its  first  operation  secured  the 
House  of  Hanover  on  the  throne,  and  its  permanent  influence 
maintains  the  peace  and  stability  of  government.  As  often 
as  a  repeal  has  been  moved  in  the  House  of  Commons  I  have 
given  in  its  defence  a  clear  and  conscientious  vote.2 

My  grandfather  could  not  expect  to  be  treated  with  more 
lenity  than  his  companions.  His  Tory  principles  and  con- 
nections rendered  him  obnoxious  to  the  ruling  powers  :  his 
name  is  reported  in  a  suspicious  secret 3  ;  and  his  well-known 

1  ["  The  twelfth  century  produced  the  first  rudiments  of  the  wise  and  jealous 
aristocracy  which  has  reduced  the  Doge  to  a  pageant  and  the  people  to  a 
cipher"  {The  Decline,  vi. ,  382).  By  a  decree  of  1297  the  admission  into  the 
great  Council  was  almost  entirely  confined  to  those  who  had  sat  in  it  in  the  last 
four  years  and  their  descendants.  "This  law  is  become  a  marked  epoch  in 
Venetian  history  by  the  name  of  '  La  Serrata  del  maggior  Consiglio,'  the 
shutting  up  of  the  Great  Council  "  {Penny  Cyclo.,  xxvi.,  238).] 

2  [The  following  is  a  list  of  the  motions  for  repeal  recorded  in  the  Pari.  Hist. 
during  the  time  Gibbon  was  a  member  : — ■ 

Feb.  1,  1775.     Lost  by  195  to  100  {Pari.  Hist,,  xviii.,  216). 

March  6,  1776.     Lost  by  138  to  64  {ib. ,  p.  1237). 

March  11 ,  1778.     Lost  by  83  to  32  {ib.,  xix. ,  873). 

May  8, 1780.     Lost  by  182  to  90  {ib.,  xxi.,  594).     In  this  debate  Burke  spoke 

against  the  motion. 
May  17,  1782.     Lost  by  149  to  61  {ib. ,  xxiii.,  48).     Fox  and  Pitt  spoke  for 

the  motion  ;  Burke  against  it. 
May  16,  1783.     Lost  by  121  to  56  [ib.,  p.  896).] 

3  [In  this  strange  piece  of  English  reference  seems  to  be  made  to  a  passage 
in  the  Report  of  the  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  where  it  is  stated, 


20  EDWARD  GIBBON 

abilities  could  not  plead  the  excuse  of  ignorance  or  error.      In 
the  first   proceedings  against  the  South   Sea   Directors,  Mr. 
Gibbon  is  one  of  the  few  who  were  taken  into  custody 1 ;  and, 
in  the  final  sentence,  the  measure  of  his  fine  proclaims  him 
eminently  guilty.     The  total  estimate  which  he  delivered  on 
oath  to  the  House  of  Commons  amounted  to  one  hundred  and 
six  thousand  five  hundred  and  forty-three  pounds  five  shillings 
and   sixpence,   exclusive    of  antecedent   settlements."-      Two 
different   allowances   of  fifteen  and  of  ten  thousand  pounds 
were  moved  for  Mr.  Gibbon ;  but,  on  the  question  being  put, 
it  was  carried  without  a  division  for  the  smaller  sum.3     On 
these  ruins,  with  the  skill  and  credit,  of  which  parliament  had 
not  been  able  to  despoil  him,  my  grandfather  at  a  mature  age 
erected  the  edifice  of  a  new  fortune ;  the  labours  of  sixteen 
years  were  amply  rewarded  ;  and  I  have  reason  to  believe  that 
the  second  structure  was  not  much  inferior  to  the  first.      He 
had  realized  a  very  considerable  property  in  Sussex,  Hamp- 
shire,  Buckinghamshire  and  the  New   River   Company ;  and 
had  acquired  a  spacious  house,4  with  gardens  and  lands,  at 
Putney,   in   Surry,  where  he  resided   in  decent   hospitality.5 


that  "  the  Directors  to  whom  the  secret  management  was  principally  intrusted 
had  disposed  of  a  fictitious  stock  of  ,£574,000".  Mr.  Gibbon  was  one  of  the 
number.     {lb.,  vii.,  712.)] 

1[He  and  four  other  Directors,  after  being  examined  before  a  committee  of 
the  House  of  Lords,  "were  ordered  into  the  custody  of  the  Black  Rod"  (id., 
vii.,  702).] 

2  [Gibbon,  as  is  shown  by  passages  in  the  Memoirs  omitted  by  Lord  Sheffield, 
knew  that  his  grandfather  had  "  found  means  to  elude  the  impending  stroke 
by  previous  settlements  and  secret  conveyance  "  (Auto. ,  pp.  16,  109,  215,  391).] 

3 [Pari.  Hist.,  vii.,  827.     Nine  of  the  Directors  were  allowed  a  still  smaller 

fraction  of  their  property.     One,  Hawes,  whose  estimate  of  his  property  was 

^40,031,  retained  only  ^31  (id.,  p.  834).     "The  estates  of  the  Directors  were 

valued  at  ^2,014,100;   the  allowance  made  to  them  was  .£354,600"  (Coxe's 

Walpole,  i.,  150).] 

4  Since  inhabited  by  Mr.  Wood,  Sir  John  Shelley,  the  Duke  of  Norfolk, 
etc. — Sheffield. 

[In  Dodsley's  London,  etc.,  v.,  235  (ed.  1761),  Putney  is  described  as  being 
"five  miles  south-west  of  London.  About  this  village  the  citizens  of  London 
have  many  pretty  seats  ;  and  on  Putney  Heath  is  a  public  house  noted  for 
polite  assemblies,  and  in  the  summer  season  for  breakfasting  and  dancing,  and 
for  one  of  the  pleasantest  bowling-greens  in  England."] 

5  \Decently  Johnson  defines  as  "  without  meanness  or  ostentation  ".  It  is  in 
this  sense  that  Gibbon  describes  his  grandfather's  hospitality.] 


MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  21 

He  died  in  December,  1736,  at  the  age  of  seventy  ;  and  by  his 
last  will,  at  the  expense  of  Edward,  his  only  son  (with  whose 
marriage  he  was  not  perfectly  reconciled,1)  enriched  his  two 
daughters,  Catherine  and  Hester.  The  former  became  the 
wife  of  Mr.  Edward  Elliston,  an  East  India  captain :  their 
daughter  and  heiress  Catherine  was  married  in  the  year  1756' 
to  Edward  Eliot,  Esq.  (now  Lord  Eliot),  of  Port  Eliot,  in  the 
county  of  Cornwall 2  ;  and  their  three  sons  are  my  nearest 
male  relations  on  the  father's  side.  A  life  of  devotion  and 
celibacy  was  the  choice  of  my  aunt,  Mrs.  Hester  Gibbon,  who, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-five,  still  resides  in  a  hermitage  at  Cliffe, 
in  Northamptonshire 3 ;  having  long  survived  her  spiritual 
guide  and  faithful  companion  Mr.  William  Law,  who,  at  an 
advanced  age,  about  the  year  1761,  died  in  her  house.4  In 
our  family  he  had  left  the  reputation  of  a  worthy  and  pious 
man,  who  believed  all  that  he  professed,  and  practised  all  that 
he  enjoined.  The  character  of  a  non-juror,  which  he  main- 
tained to  the  last,  is  a  sufficient  evidence  of  his  principles  in 
church  and  state  ;  and  the  sacrifice  of  interest  to  conscience 
will  be  always  respectable.5  His  theological  writings,  which 
our  domestic  connection  has  tempted  me  to  peruse,  preserve 
an   imperfect  sort  of  life,  and   I  can   pronounce   with   more 

i[It  was  no  doubt  "  the  doubtful  credit  "  of  the  father  of  his  son's  wife,  which 
was  to  end  in  a  bankruptcy  [post,  p.  37),  that  displeased  the  old  man.  See 
Auto.,  p.  in.] 

2  [He  gave  Gibbon  his  seat  in  Parliament.  Post,  p.  191.  He  was  great- 
great-grandson  of  Sir  John  Eliot,  who  died  in  the  Tower,  a  victim  to  the 
lawlessness  of  Charles  I.  He  was  raised  to  the  peerage  in  January,  1784.  The 
second  Baron  was  created  Earl  of  St.  Germains  in  1815,  dropping  in  this  title 
his  great  inheritance  in  the  name  of  Eliot.  For  Eliot  as  "  a  young  Lord"  see 
Boswell's  Johnson,  iv. ,  334.] 

3  [Gibbon  grew  impatient  of  the  prolonged  life  of  "the  Northamptonshire 
Saint ".  On  Feb.  4,  1789,  he  asked  Lord  Sheffield  to  apply  to  Lord  Spencer 
"  to  find  a  correspondent  in  that  neighbourhood,  who,  without  noise  or  scandal, 
might  send  you  regular  and  early  notice  of  her  decline  and  fall  "  (Corres.,  ii., 
187).  Four  months  later  he  wrote  :  "  The  Saint  seems  ripe  for  heaven  "  (id., 
p.  193).     For  her  will  see  ib. ,  p.  218.] 

4  [It  was  in  his  own  house  that  he  died  ;  "  it  did  not  become  Miss  Gibbon's 
until  after  his  death,  when  she  received  it  as  a  bequest ;  or  rather  a  trust,  from 
him  ".  Cliffe,  or  King's  Cliffe,  as  it  is  properly  called,  was  his  native  village. 
There  he  was  born  in  1686,  and  thither  he  retired  in  1740  (Overton's  Law, 
pp.  5,  222,  351,  446).] 

5 [For  William  Law  and  his  writings  see  Appendix  2.] 


22  EDWARD  GIBBON 

confidence  and  knowledge  on  the  merits  of  the  author.  His 
last  compositions  are  darkly  tinctured  by  the  incomprehensible 
visions  of  Jacob  Behmen  l ;  and  his  discourse  on  the  absolute 
unlawfulness  of  stage  entertainments  is  sometimes  quoted  for 
a  ridiculous  intemperance  of  sentiment  and  language. — "  The 
actors  and  spectators  must  all  be  damned :  the  playhouse  is 
the  porch  of  Hell,  the  place  of  the  Devil's  abode,  where  he 
holds  his  filthy  court  of  evil  spirits :  a  play  is  the  Devil's 
triumph,  a  sacrifice  performed  to  his  glory,  as  much  as  in  the 
heathen  temples  of  Bacchus  or  Venus,  etc.,  etc."  But  these 
sallies  of  religious  frenzy  must  not  extinguish  the  praise,  which 
is  due  to  Mr.  William  Law  as  a  wit  and  a  scholar.  His 
argument  on  topics  of  less  absurdity  is  specious  and  acute,  his 
manner  is  lively,  his  style  forcible  and  clear ;  and,  had  not  his 
vigorous  mind  been  clouded  by  enthusiasm,2  he  might  be 
ranked  with  the  most  agreeable  and  ingenious  writers  of  the 
times.  While  the  Bangorian  controversy  was  a  fashionable 
theme,  he  entered  the  lists  on  the  subject  of  Christ's  kingdom, 
and  the  authority  of  the  priesthood  :  against  the  plain  account 

1["  Law  (said  Dr.  Johnson)  fell  latterly  into  the  reveries  of  Jacob  Behmen, 
whom  Law  alleged  to  have  been  somewhat  in  the  same  state  with  St.  Paul, 
and  to  have  seen  unutterable  things.  Were  it  even  so  (said  Johnson),  Jacob 
would  have  resembled  St.  Paul  still  more,  by  not  attempting  to  utter  them" 
(Boswell's  Johnson,  ii.,  122).  See  id.,  n.  6,  for  Behmen  or  Bohme,  the  mystic 
shoemaker  of  Gorlitz,  who  was  born  in  1575  and  died  in  1624.] 

2  [Johnson  defines  enthusiasm  as  "  a  vain  belief  of  private  revelation  ;  a  vain 
confidence  of  divine  favour  or  communication  ".  Sprat,  in  1667,  in  his  History 
of  the  Royal  Society,  ed.  1734,  p.  53,  speaking  of  the  meetings  of  learned  men 
in  the  lodgings  of  the  Warden  of  Wadham  College,  Oxford,  during  the 
Commonwealth,  says  that  "  the  minds  of  young  men,  receiving  from  them  first 
impressions  of  sober  and  generous  knowledge,  were  invincibly  armed  against 
all  the  enchantments  of  enthusiasm  ".  South  describes  ' '  enthusiasm  "  as  "  that 
pestilent  and  vile  thing,  which,  wheresoever  it  has  had  its  full  course,  has 
thrown  both  Church  and  State  into  confusion  "  (Sermons,  iv. ,  41).  Dennis,  in 
1696,  dedicating  his  Letters  upon  Several  Occasions  to  Charles  Montague, 
wrote  :  "The  enthusiast,  the  quack,  the  pettifogger  are  rewarded  for  torturing 
and  deluding  man".  Bishop  Hurd,  in  1752,  published  a  sermon  on  The 
Mischiefs  of  Enthusiasm  and  Bigotry.  Adam  Smith,  in  1776,  in  the  Wealth  of 
Nations,  ed.  1811,  hi.,  p.  216,  says,  "Science  is  the  great  antidote  to  the 
poison  of  enthusiasm  and  superstition".  Gibbon  wrote  in  1779:  "If 
Eusebius  had  shown  that  the  virtues  of  the  confessors  were  tinctured  with 
pride  and  obstinacy,  and  that  their  lively  faith  was  not  exempt  from  some 
mixture  of  enthusiasm,  he  would  have  armed  his  readers  against  the  excessive 
veneration  for  those  holy  men  which  imperceptibly  degenerated  into  religious 
worship"  (Misc.  Works,  iv.,  633).  See  post,  p.  147  ;  and  also  p.  163,  where  he 
uses  the  word  in  the  more  modern  sense.] 


MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  23 

of  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  he  resumed  the  combat 
with  Bishop  Hoadley,  the  object  of  Whig  idolatry,  and  Tory 
abhorrence  ;  and  at  every  weapon  of  attack  and  defence  the 
non-juror,  on  the  ground  which  is  common  to  both,  approves 
himself  at  least  equal  to  the  prelate.  On  the  appearance  of 
the  Fable  of  the  Bees,  he  drew  his  pen  against  the  licentious 
doctrine  that  private  vices  are  public  benefits,  and  morality 
as  well  as  religion  must  join  in  his  applause.  Mr.  Law's 
master-work,  the  Serious  Call,  is  still  read  as  a  popular  and 
powerful  book  of  devotion.  His  precepts  are  rigid,  but  they 
are  founded  on  the  gospel l  ;  his  satire  is  sharp,  but  it  is  drawn 
from  the  knowledge  of  human  life  ;  and  many  of  his  portraits 
are  not  unworthy  of  the  pen  of  La  Bruyere.  If  he  finds  a 
spark  of  piety  in  his  reader's  mind,  he  will  soon  kindle  it  to  a 
flame  J ;  and  a  philosopher  must  allow  that  he  exposes,  with 
equal  severity  and  truth,  the  strange  contradiction  between 
the  faith  and  practice  of  the  Christian  world.  Under  the 
names  of  Flavia  and  Miranda  he  has  admirably  described  my 
two  aunts — the  heathen  and  the  Christian  sister. 

My  father,  Edward  Gibbon,  was  born  in  October,  1707  :  at 
the  age  of  thirteen  he  could  scarcely  feel  that  he  was  dis- 
inherited by  act  of  parliament ;  and,  as  he  advanced  towards 
manhood,  new  prospects  of  fortune  opened  to  his  view.  A 
parent  is  most  attentive  to  supply  in  his  children  the  de- 
ficiencies, of  which  he  is  conscious  in  himself:  my  grand- 
father's knowledge  was  derived  from  a  strong'  understanding 
and  the  experience  of  the  ways  of  men ;  but  my  father 
enjoyed  the  benefits  of  a  liberal  education  as  a  scholar  and 
a  gentleman.  At  Westminster  School,  and  afterwards  at 
Emmanuel  College  in  Cambridge,  he  passed  through  a  regular 
course  of  academical  discipline  ;  and  the  care  of  his  learning 
and  morals  was  intrusted  to  his  private  tutor,  the  same  Mr. 


1  [Gibbon  does  not  praise  Law  for  adhering  to  the  Gospel,  but  attacks  the 
Gospel  for  justifying  Law's  precepts.  "  The  Ascetics,  who  obeyed  and  abused 
the  rigid  precepts  of  the  Gospel,  were  inspired  by  the  savage  enthusiasm  which 
represents  man  as  a  criminal,  and  God  as  a  tyrant  "  [The  Decline,  iv.,  57).] 

2["  Hell-fire  is  darted  from  every  page  of  it  "  [Auto.,  p.  26).] 


24  EDWARD  GIBBON 

William  Law.1  But  the  mind  of  a  saint2  is  above  or  below 
the  present  world ;  and  while  the  pupil  proceeded  on  his 
travels,  the  tutor  remained  at  Putney,  the  much-honoured 
friend  and  spiritual  director  of  the  whole  family.3  My  father 
resided  some  time  at  Paris  to  acquire  the  fashionable  exercises  ; 
and  as  his  temper  was  warm  and  social,  he  indulged  in  those 
pleasures,  for  which  the  strictness  of  his  former  education  had 
given  him  a  keener  relish.  He  afterwards  visited  several 
provinces  of  France ;  but  his  excursions  were  neither  long  nor 
remote  ;  and  the  slender  knowledge,  which  he  had  gained  of 
the  French  language,  was  gradually  obliterated.  His  passage 
through  Besancon  is  marked  by  a  singular  consequence  in  the 
chain  of  human  events.  In  a  dangerous  illness  Mr.  Gibbon 
was  attended,  at  his  own  request,  by  one  of  his  kinsmen  of 
the  name  of  Acton,4  the  younger  brother  of  a  younger  brother, 
who  had  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  physic.  During  the 
slow  recovery  of  his  patient,  the  physician  himself  was  attacked 
by  the  malady  of  love  :  he  married  his  mistress,  renounced 
his  country  and  religion,  settled  at  Besangon,  and  became  the 
father  of  three  sons ;  the  eldest  of  whom,  General  Acton,  is 
conspicuous  in  Europe  as  the  principal  Minister  of  the  King 


1  [Law  had  been  a  Fellow  of  the  College.  John  Byrom  {Remains,  i.,  422) 
records  how  one  evening  in  1730,  going  to  give  Gibbon's  father  a  lesson  in 
shorthand  at  Cambridge,  he  found  that  "he  had  been  playing  at  quadrille, 
had  writ  a  little,  but  very  ill ;  for  he  makes  his  letters  wretchedly,  but  reads 
pretty  well.  Mr.  Law  came  in  while  we  were  at  it  and  sat  with  us.  .  .  .  We 
had  a  bottle  of  wine,  he  drank  none,  I  think,  I  two  or  three  glasses."  The  next 
day  Byrom  recorded  :  "  Gibbon  had  done  nothing  ;  what  a  pity  he  should  be  so 
slow,  for  Law's  sake  !  "] 

2  [See  post,  pp.  69,  n.,  71,  n.~\ 

3["  March  4,  1729.  We  went  to  the  Bull  Inn,  Putney,  and  sent  to  Mr.  Law 
that  we  should  wait  on  him  in  the  afternoon  ;  while  we  were  eating  a  mutton 
chop  Mr.  Law  came  to  us,  and  we  went  with  him  to  Mr.  Gibbon's,  where  we 
walked  in  the  gardens  and  upstairs  into  some  rooms,  the  library,  and  then  we 
sat  in  a  parlour  below  with  Mr.  Law  and  young  G. ,  who  left  us  after  a  little 
while  over  a  bottle  of  French  wine  "  {Remains  of  John  Byrom,  i. ,  337). 

If  Miranda  was  Hester  Gibbon  the  family  did  not  obey  their  director,  for  we 
are  told  of  her  that  "whilst  she  was  under  her  mother,  she  was  forced  to  go 
patched,  and  loaded  with  a  burden  of  fineries  to  the  holy  Sacrament ;  to  hear 
profaneness  at  the  play-house,  and  wanton  songs  and  love  intrigues  at  the 
opera  ;  to  dance  at  public  places,  that  fops  and  rakes  might  admire  the  fineness 
of  her  shape,  and  the  beauty  of  her  motions  "  (  The  Serious  Call,  ch.  viii.).] 

4  [See  Appendix  3.] 


MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  25 

of  the  Two  Sicilies.  By  an  uncle  whom  another  stroke  of 
fortune  had  transplanted  to  Leghorn,  he  was  educated  in  the 
naval  service  of  the  Emperor  ;  and  his  valour  and  conduct  in 
the  command  of  the  Tuscan  frigates  protected  the  retreat 
of  the  Spaniards  from  Algiers.1  On  my  father's  return  to 
England  he  was  chosen,  in  the  general  election  of  1734,  to 
serve  in  parliament  for  the  borough  of  Petersfleld,  a  burgage 
tenure,  of  which  my  grandfather  possessed  a  weighty  share, 
till  he  alienated  (I  know  not  why)  such  important  property.2 
In  the  opposition  to  Sir  Robert  Walpole,  and  the  Pelhams, 
prejudice  and  society  connected  his  son  with  the  Tories, — 
shall  I  say  Jacobites  ?  3  or,  as  they  were  pleased  to  style  them- 
selves, the  country  gentlemen  ?  with  them  he  gave  many  a 
vote  ;  with  them  he  drank  many  a  bottle.4    Without  acquiring 


1  [In  the  Annual  Register,  xviii. ,  i,  142,  an  account  is  given  of  the  Spanish 
attack  on  Algiers  in  1775,  "with  a  force  that,  in  its  modern  state  of  barbarism 
and  imbecility,  seemed  sufficient  to  overwhelm  all  Africa.  .  .  .  This  expedition 
must  be  ranked  amongst  the  most  disgraceful  in  its  event,  as  well  as  the  most 
formidable  in  its  preparations  of  any  in  the  present  age"  {lb.,  pp.  144,  146. 
See  also  Gent.  Mag. ,  xlv. ,  405). 

Smollett  (Hist.  Eng.,  ed.  1S00,  iii.,  273),  writing  of  the  year  1748,  says  :  "All 
the  powers  that  border  on  the  Mediterranean,  except  France  and  Tuscany,  are 
at  perpetual  war  with  the  Moors  of  Barbary,  and  for  that  reason  obliged  to 
employ  foreign  ships  for  the  transportation  of  their  merchandise.  .  .  .  The 
Maritime  Powers,  for  this  puny  advantage,  not  only  tolerate  the  piratical  states, 
but  even  supply  them  with  arms  and  ammunition,  solicit  their  passes,  and 
purchase  their  forbearance  with  annual  presents,  which  are,  in  effect,  equal  to  a 
tribute." 

In  1816  an  English  fleet,  under  Lord  Exmouth,  bombarded  Algiers,  and 
released  more  than  1,000  Christian  slaves  (Martineau's  Thirty  Years'  Peace, 
ed.  1849,  i.,  62).     In  1830  the  French  permanently  occupied  the  town.] 

2  [See  Appendix  4.] 

3 [Lord  Hervey  (Memoirs,  i.,  5),  writing  of  the  year  1727,  says  that  "the 
Tories  were  divided  into  Jacobites  and  what  were  called  Hanover  Tories". 
Lord  Bolingbroke  complained  in  1733  (  Works,  iii.,  28)  that  the  writers  on  the 
side  of  the  ministry  "frequently  throw  out  that  every  man  is  a  friend  to  the 
Pretender  who  is  not  a  friend  to  Walpole  ".  Churchill,  in  his  Prophecy  of  Famine 
(1763),  writes  of — 

"  The  old  adherents  of  the  Stuart  race, 
Who,  pointed  out  no  matter  by  what  name, 
Tories  or  Jacobites,  are  still  the  same". 

(Poems,  ed.  1766,  i.,  123.)] 

4[Swift,  in  his  Journal  to  Stella,  describes  on  Feb.  18,  1710-11,  "  the  October 
Club  ;  that  is  a  set  of  above  a  hundred  parliament  men  of  the  country  who 
drink  October  beer  at  home,  and  meet  every  evening  at  a  tavern  near  the 
parliament,  to  consult  affairs,  and  drive  things  on  to  extremes  against  the 
Whigs  to  call  the  old  ministry  to  account,  and  get  off  five  or  six  heads  ". 


26  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1737-45 

the  fame  of  an  orator  or  a  statesman,  he  eagerly  joined  in  the 
great  opposition,  which,  after  a  seven  years'  chase,  hunted 
down  Sir  Robert  Walpole  :  and  in  the  pursuit  of  an  unpopular 
minister,  he  gratified  a  private  revenge  against  the  oppressor 
of  his  family  in  the  South  Sea  persecution.1 

I  was  born  at  Putney,  in  the  county  of  Surry,  the  27th  of 
April,  O.S.,y  in  the  year  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  ;  the  first  child  of  the  marriage  of  Edward  Gibbon, 
esq.,  and  of  Judith  Porten.3  My  lot  might  have  been  that 
of  a  slave,  a  savage,  or  a  peasant ;  nor  can  I  reflect  without 
pleasure  on  the  bounty  of  Nature,  which  cast  my  birth  in  a 
free  and  civilized  country,  in  an  age  of  science  and  philosophy, 
in  a  family  of  honourable  rank,  and  decently  endowed  with 
the  gifts  of  fortune.4     From  my  birth  I  have  enjoyed  the  right 


Fielding  nearly  forty  years  later  took  off  these  country  gentlemen  in  Squire 
Western  :  "  '  Pox  !  the  world  is  come  to  a  fine  pass  indeed,  if  we  are  all  fools,  ex- 
cept a  parcel  of  roundheads  and  Hanover  rats.  Pox  !  I  hope  the  times  are  a 
coming  that  we  shall  make  fools  of  them,  and  every  man  shall  enjoy  his  own.  .  .  . 
I  hope  to  zee  it,  sister,  before  the  Hanover  rats  have  eat  up  all  our  corn,  and 
left  us  nothing  but  turnips  to  feed  upon.' — 'I  protest,  brother,'  cries  she, 
'you  are  now  got  beyond  my  understanding.  Your  jargon  of  turnips  and 
Hanover  rats  is  to  me  perfectly  unintelligible.'— '  I  believe,'  cries  he,  'you 
don't  care  to  hear  o'  em ;  but  the  country  interest  may  succeed  one  day  or 
other  for  all  that '  "  ( Tom  Jones,  bk.  vi. ,  ch.  14).] 

1  [Walpole  not  only  opposed  the  unjust  measures  of  the  prosecution,  but  was 
inclined  to  leniency  (Coxe's  Walpole,  i. ,  148,  151).] 

2  [Gibbon  kept  his  birthday  on  May  8,  N.S.  {post,  p.  229).  The  loss  of  the 
eleven  days  on  the  alteration  of  the  style  in  September,  1752,  caused  him  great 
surprise  {Auto.,  p.  79).  Johnson  recorded  in  his  Diary:  "Jan.  1,  1753,  N.S. , 
which  I  shall  use  for  the  future"  {Johnsonia?i  Misc.,  i.,  13).] 

3  The  union  to  which  I  owe  my  birth  was  a  marriage  of  inclination  and  esteem. 
Mr.  James  Porten,  a  merchant  of  London,  resided  with  his  family  at  Putney,  in 
a  house  adjoining  to  the  bridge  and  churchyard,  where  I  have  passed  many 
happy  hours  of  my  childhood.  He  left  one  son  (the  late  Sir  Stanier  Porten) 
and  three  daughters  ;  Catherine,  who  preserved  her  maiden  name,  and  of  whom 
I  shall  hereafter  speak ;  another  daughter  married  Mr.  Darrel  of  Richmond, 
and  left  two  sons,  Edward  and  Robert :  the  youngest  of  the  three  sisters  was 
Judith,  my  mother. — Gibbon. 

["  June  3,  1736.  Edward  Gibbon  Esq.  of  Putney,  Member  of  Pari,  for  Peters- 
field,  to  Miss  Portcen"  {Gent.  Mag.,  1736,  p.  355). 

"April  27,  1737.  The  Lady  of  Edw.  Gibbon  Esq.,  Member  for  Petersfield, 
of  a  son"  {id. ,  1737,  p.  252). 

Sir  Stanier  Porten  was  Under-Secretary  of  State  in  1776  [Carres.,  i.,  298). 
His  two  children  inherited  most  of  Gibbon's  property.  Edward  Darell  was  one 
of  Gibbon's  executors  {post,  p.  268).] 

^Post,  p.  239.] 


1737-45]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  27 

of  primogeniture,1  but  I  was  succeeded  by  five  brothers  and 
one  sister,  all  of  whom  were  snatched  away  in  their  infancy. 
My  five  brothers,  whose  names  may  be  found  in  the  parish 
register  of  Putney,  I  shall  not  pretend  to  lament;2  but  from 
my  childhood  to  the  present  hour  I  have  deeply  and  sincerely 
regretted  my  sister,  whose  life  was  somewhat  prolonged,  and 
whom  I  remember  to  have  seen  an  amiable  infant.  The 
relation  of  a  brother  and  a  sister,  especially  if  they  do  not 
marry,  appears  to  me  of  a  very  singular  nature.  It  is  a 
familiar  and  tender  friendship  with  a  female,  much  about  our 
own  age  ;  an  affection  perhaps  softened  by  the  secret  influence 
of  sex,  but  pure  from  any  mixture  of  sensual  desire,  and  the 
sole  species  of  Platonic  love  that  can  be  indulged  in  with 
truth,  and  without  danger.3 

At  the  general  election  of  1741,  Mr.  Gibbon  and  Mr.  Delme 
stood  an  expensive  and  successful  contest  at  Southampton, 
against  Mr.  Dummer  and  Mr.  Henly,  afterwards  Lord  Chan- 
cellor and  Earl  of  Northington.4  The  Whig  candidates  had 
a  majority  of  the  resident  voters  ;  but  the  corporation  was 
firm  in  the  Tory  interest  :  a  sudden  creation  of  one  hundred 

1  ["  The  insolent  prerogative  of  primogeniture  was  unknown"  to  the  Romans 
(  The  Decline,  iv. ,  488).  "  The  frequent  partitions  among  brothers  had  almost 
ruined  the  princely  houses  of  Germany,  till  that  just  but  pernicious  law  was 
slowly  superseded  by  the  right  of  primogeniture"  (ib.,  vi.,  494).] 

2  [Had  they  lived,  their  shares  of  their  father's  fortune,  younger  children 
though  they  were,  "would  have  been  sufficient,"  he  writes,  "to  oppress  my 
inheritance"  (Auto.,  p.  28). 

The  first  six  children  born  to  Sir  Walter  Scott's  parents  "all  perished  in 
infancy"  (Lockhart's  Scott,  ed.  1839,  i.,  108).] 

3  ["  I,  who  have  no  sisters  nor  brothers,"  wrote  Johnson,  "look  with  some 
degree  of  innocent  envy  on  those  who  may  be  said  to  be  born  to  be  friends" 
( Bos  well' s  Johnson,  i. ,  324).] 

4  [Horace  Walpole  wrote  of  Lord  Northington  on  Dec.  29,  1763:  "The 
Chancellor  is  chosen  a  governor  of  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital :  a  smart  gentle- 
man, who  was  sent  with  the  staff,  carried  it  in  the  evening,  when  the  Chancellor 
happened  to  be  drunk.  '  Well,  Mr.  Bartlemy,'  said  his  lordship,  snuffing,  '  what 
have  you  to  say  ? '  The  man,  who  had  prepared  a  formal  harangue,  was  trans- 
ported to  have  so  fair  an  opportunity  given  him  of  uttering  it,  and  with  much 
dapper  gesticulation  congratulated  his  lordship  on  his  health,  and  the  nation 
on  enjoying  such  great  abilities.  The  Chancellor  stopped  him  short,  crying, 
'  By  God,  it  is  a  lie  !  I  have  neither  health  nor  abilities ;  my  bad  health  has 
destroyed  my  abilities"  (Walpole's  Letters,  iv.,  154).  When,  a  little  later, 
Northington  was  made  President  of  the  Council,  Walpole  wrote  :  "  He  is  never 
sober  after  dinner,  and  causes  are  only  heard  before  the  Council  in  the  after- 
noon" (id.,  v.,  8).] 


28  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1737-45 

and  seventy  new  freemen  turned  the  scale ;  and  a  supply  was 
readily  obtained  of  l-espectable  volunteers,  who  nocked  from 
all  parts  of  England  to  support  the  cause  of  their  political 
friends.  The  new  parliament  opened  with  the  victory  of  an 
opposition,  which  was  fortified  by  strong  clamour  and  strange 
coalitions.  From  the  event  of  the  first  divisions,  Sir  Robert 
Walpole  perceived  that  he  could  no  longer  lead  a  majority 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  prudently  resigned  (after  a 
dominion  of  one-and-twenty  years)  the  guidance  of  the  state 
(1742).  But  the  fall  of  an  unpopular  minister  was  not  suc- 
ceeded, according  to  general  expectation,  by  a  millennium  of 
happiness  and  virtue ;  some  courtiers  lost  their  places,  some 
patriots  lost  their  characters,1  Lord  Orford's  2  offences  vanished 
with  his  power  :  and  after  a  short  vibration,  the  Pelham  govern- 
ment was  fixed  on  the  old  basis  of  the  Whig  aristocracy.  In 
the  year  1745,  the  throne  and  the  constitution  were  attacked 
by  a  rebellion,  which  does  not  reflect  much  honour  on  the 
national  spirit ;  since  the  English  friends  of  the  Pretender 
wanted  courage  to  join  his  standard,  and  his  enemies  (the 
bulk  of  the  people)  allowed  him  to  advance  into  the  heart  of 
the  kingdom.3  Without  daring,  perhaps  without  desiring,  to 
aid  the  rebels,  my  father  invariably  adhered  to  the  Tory 
opposition.     In  the  most  critical  season  he  accepted,  for  the 

1  [Pope,  in  the  fragment  of  a  satire  entitled  "  One  Thousand  Seven  Hundred 
and  Forty,"  thus  attacked  Pulteney,  afterwards  Earl  of  Bath,  the  leader  of  the 
"  patriots  "  :  — 

"Thro'  clouds  of  passion  P 's  views  are  clear, 

He  foams  a  patriot  to  subside  a  peer ; 
Impatient  sees  his  country  bought  and  sold. 
And  damns  the  market  where  he  takes  no  gold  ". 
(Warton's  Pope's  Works,  iv. ,  347;  see  also  Boswell's  Johnson,  v.,  239.)] 

2  [In  Feb.,  1742,  Walpole  was  made  Earl  of  Orford.] 

3  [When  Johnson  and  Boswell  were  driving  to  Derby  in  1777,  "  I  observed," 
writes  Boswell,  "  that  we  were  this  day  to  stop  just  where  the  Highland  army 
did  in  1745  ".  "  It  was  anoble  attempt,"  answered  Johnson  ( Boswell's  Johnson, 
iii.,  162).  Smollett  tells  how  the  English  Jacobites  ' '  were  elevated  to  an  insolence 
of  hope  which  they  were  at  no  pains  to  conceal  ".  Nevertheless,  "  except  a  few 
that  joined  the  Prince  at  Manchester,  not  a  soul  appeared  in  his  behalf;  one 
would  have  imagined  that  all  the  Jacobites  of  England  had  been  annihilated  " 
(Hist,  of  E?igland,  iii.,  170).  Horace  Walpole  wrote  on  Dec.  9,  1745  (Letters, 
i.,  410)  :  "  The  rebels  have  got  no  recruits  since  their  first  entry  into  England, 
excepting  one  gentleman  in  Lancashire,  one  hundred  and  fifty  common  men, 
and  two  parsons  at  Manchester,  and  a  physician  from  York  ".] 


1737-45]       MEMOIRkS  OF  MY  LIFE  29 

service  of  the  party,  the  office  of  alderman  in  the  city  of 
London  :  but  the  duties  were  so  repugnant  to  his  inclination 
and  habits  that  he  resigned  his  gown  at  the  end  of  a  few 
months.1  The  second  parliament  in  which  he  sat  was  pre- 
maturely dissolved  (1747)  ;2  and  as  he  was  unable  or  unwilling 
to  maintain  a  second  contest  for  Southampton,  the  life  of  the 
senator  expired  in  that  dissolution. 

The  death  of  a  new-born  child  before  that  of  its  parents 
may  seem  an  unnatural,  but  it  is  strictly  a  probable,  event  : 
since  of  any  given  number  the  greater  part  are  extinguished 
before  their  ninth  year,  before  they  possess  the  faculties  of 
the  mind  or  body.3  Without  accusing  the  profuse  waste  or 
imperfect  workmanship  of  Nature,4  I  shall  only  observe,  that 
this  unfavourable  chance  was  multiplied  against  my  infant 
existence.  So  feeble  was  my  constitution,  so  precarious  my 
life,  that,  in  the  baptism  of  each  of  my  brothers,  my  father's 
prudence  successively  repeated  my  Christian  name  of  Edward, 

1  [He  was  elected  Alderman  of  Vintry  Ward  in  March,  1743  (Gent.  Mag., 
xiii.,  163).  He  resigned  in  June,  1745  (ib. ,  xv. ,  333).  Horace  Walpole  described 
the  historian  as  the  "  son  of  a  foolish  alderman  "  (Letters,  vi.,  311).] 

2  [This  parliament  met  in  Dec,  1741,  and  was  dissolved  in  June,  1747. 
Though  it  sat  through  six  sessions,  nevertheless  between  1714  and  1780  there 
was  only  one  shorter  parliament — the  one  that  after  five  sessions  was  brought  to 
a  close  by  the  death  of  George  I.  At  the  prorogation  in  1747  the  King  said  : 
"As  this  parliament  would  necessarily  determine  in  a  short  time  ...  I  have 
judged  it  expedient  speedily  to  call  a  new  parliament  "  (Pari.  Hist.,  xiv.,  65). 
Horace  Walpole  wrote  a  few  days  later:  "Lord  Cornbury  says  the  King's 
speech  put  him  in  mind  of  a  gaoler  in  Oxfordshire  who  was  remarkably  humane 
to  his  prisoners  ;  one  day  he  said  to  one  of  them,  '  My  good  friend,  you  know 
you  are  to  be  hanged  on  Friday  se'nnight ;  I  want  extremely  to  go  to  London  ; 
would  you  be  so  kind  as  to  be  hanged  next  Friday?'  "  (Walpole's  Letters, 
ii.,  88).] 

3  ["  On  peut  parier  12,245  contre  11,749  qu'un  enfant  qui  vient  de  naitre  ne 
vivra  pas  10  ans"  (Buffon's  Hist.  Nat.,  ed.  1777,  supplement  iv. ,  158). 

"  La  moiti6  du  genre  humain  perit  avant  l'age  de  huit  ans  un  mois,  c'est  a 
dire,  avant  que  le  corps  soit  d6veloppe\  et  avant  que  1'a.me  ne  se  manifeste  par 
la  raison  "  (id.,  p.  161). 

In  1763  Gibbon  read  A  Treatise  on  the  Number  of  Inhabitants  in  Holland 
and  West  Friesland,  by  Kerseboom,  where  it  is  stated  that  of  1,400  new-born 
children  ' '  the  probable  number  of  those  who  will  remain  alive  at  the  age  of 
ten  is  895"  (Misc.  Works,  v.,  413). 

By  Dr.  W.  Ogle's  tables,  constructed  on  the  basis  of  the  death-rates  of 
1871-80,  not  three-tenths  of  the  children  die  before  their  ninth  year  (Whitaker's 
Almanack,  1899,  p.  690.     See  post,  p.  239).] 

4  ["  So  careful  of  the  type  she  seems, 
So  careless  of  the  single  life. 

(In  Memoriam,  stanza  liv.)] 


30  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1737-45 

that,  in  case  of  the  departure  of  the  eldest  son,  this  patro- 
nymic appellation  might  be  still  perpetuated  in  the  family. 

Uno  avulso  non  deficit  alter.1 

To  preserve  and  to  rear  so  frail  a  being,  the  most  tender 
assiduity  was  scarcely  sufficient,  and  my  mother's  attention 
was  somewhat  diverted  by  an  exclusive  passion  for  her  husband, 
and  by  the  dissipation  of  the  world,  in  which  his  taste  and 
authority  obliged  her  to  mingle.  But  the  maternal  office  was 
supplied  by  my  aunt,  Mrs.  Catherine  Porten ;  at  whose  name 
I  feel  a  tear  of  gratitude  trickling  down  my  cheek.2  A  life 
of  celibacy  transferred  her  vacant  affection  to  her  sister's  first 
child :  my  weakness  excited  her  pity  ;  her  attachment  was 
fortified  by  labour  and  success  :  and  if  there  be  any,  as  I 
trust  there  are  some,  who  rejoice  that  I  live,  to  that  dear  and 
excellent  woman  they  must  hold  themselves  indebted.  Many 
anxious  and  solitary  days  did  she  consume  in  the  patient  trial 
of  every  mode  of  relief  and  amusement.  Many  wakeful 
nights  did  she  sit  by  my  bedside  in  trembling  expectation 
that  each  hour  would  be  my  last.  Of  the  various  and  frequent 
disorders  of  my  childhood  my  own  recollection  is  dark  ;  nor 
do  I  wish  to  expatiate  on  so  disgusting  a  topic.  Suffice  it  to 
say,  that  while  every  practitioner,  from  Sloane  3  and  Ward  to 
the  Chevalier  Taylor,4  was  successively  summoned  to  torture 


i  ["  Primo  avulso,  etc."  {Mneid,  vi.,  143). 
"  The  first  thus  rent,  a  second  will  arise  "  (Dryden).] 

2  [Worthy  of  respect  as  was  Gibbon's  emotion,  nevertheless  there  is  some- 
thing a  little  comical  when  we  find  the  same  words  in  five  of  the  six  sketches 
of  his  Memoirs.  The  tear  could  scarcely  have  five  times  trickled  down  his 
cheek.     See  Auto.,  pp.  36,  in,  219,  295,  392.] 

3  [Sir  Hans  Sloane,  whose  collection  of  rarities,  purchased  for  the  nation  by 
money  raised  by  a  lottery,  was  part  of  the  foundation  of  the  British  Museum. 
"  He  was  first  physician  to  George  I.,  who  created  him  a  Baronet,  and  to  his 
present  Majesty  [George  II.]"  {Gent.  Mag.,  1753,  p.  52).] 

4  ["  Talking  of  celebrated  and  successful  irregular  practisers  in  physick  ;  Dr. 
Johnson  said,  '  Taylor  was  the  most  ignorant  man  I  ever  knew  ;  but  sprightly. 
Ward  the  dullest.  Taylor  challenged  me  once  to  talk  Latin  with  him  ;  (laughing). 
I  quoted  some  of  Horace,  which  he  took  to  be  a  part  of  my  own  speech.  He 
said  a  few  words  well  enough.'  Beauclekk.  '  I  remember,  Sir,  you  said 
that  Taylor  was  an  instance  how  far  impudence  could  carry  ignorance  '"  (Bos- 
well's  Johnson,  iii.,  389.  See  Horace  Walpole's  Letters,  iii. ,  190,  for  his  epigram 
on  Taylor).] 


1737-45]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  31 

or  relieve  me,  the  care  of  my  mind  was  too  frequently  neglected 
for  that  of  my  health  :  compassion  always  suggested  an  excuse 
for  the  indulgence  of  the  master,  or  the  idleness  of  the  pupil  ; 
and  the  chain  of  my  education  was  broken,  as  often  as  I  was 
recalled  fi*om  the  school  of  learning  to  the  bed  of  sickness. 

As  soon  as  the  use  of  speech  had  prepared  my  infant 
reason  for  the  admission  of  knowledge,  I  was  taught  the  arts 
of  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic.  So  remote  is  the  date, 
so  vague  is  the  memory  of  their  origin  in  myself,  that,  were 
not  the  error  corrected  by  analogy,  I  should  be  tempted  to 
conceive  them  as  innate.  In  my  childhood  I  was  praised  for 
the  readiness  with  which  I  could  multiply  and  divide,  by 
memory  alone,  two  sums  of  several  figures  ;  such  praise  en- 
couraged my  growing  talent  ;  and  had  I  persevered  in  this 
line  of  application,  I  might  have  acquired  some  fame  in 
mathematical  studies.1 

After  this  previous  institution  2  at  home,  or  at  a  day  school 
at  Putney,  I  was  delivered  at  the  age  of  seven  into  the  hands 
of  Mr.  John  Kirkby,  who  exercised  about  eighteen  months 
the  office  of  my  domestic  tutor.  His  own  words,  which  I 
shall  here  transcribe,  inspire  in  his  favour  a  sentiment  of 
pity  and  esteem  :  "  During  my  abode  in  my  native  county 
of  Cumberland,  in  quality  of  an  indigent  cm-ate,  I  used 
now  and  then  in  a  summer,  when  the  pleasantness  of  the 
season  invited,  to  take  a  solitary  walk  to  the  sea-shore,  which 
lies  about  two  miles  from  the  town  where  I  lived.  Here 
I  would  amuse  myself,  one  while  in  viewing  at  large  the 
agreeable  prospect  which  surrounded  me,  and  another  while 
(confining  my  sight  to  nearer  objects)  in  admiring  the  vast 
variety  of  beautiful  shells,  thrown  upon  the  beach ;  some  of 
the  choicest  of  which  I  always  picked  up,  to  divert  my  little 
ones  upon  my  return.     One  time  among  the  rest,  taking  such 

1  {Post,  p.  95.  Gibbon  found  his  arithmetic  useful  in  writing  his  history. 
"The  best  translators  from  the  Greek,"  he  wrote.  "I  find  to  be  very  poor 
arithmeticians  "  (The  Decline,  v.,  407,  n.).  "  Arithmetic  is  an  excellent  touch- 
stone to  try  the  amplifications  of  passion  and  rhetoric  "  (ib.,  vi.,  405,  n.).  See 
Johnson's  Letters,  ii.,  321.] 

2  [Johnson  gives  instances  of  institution  in  the  sense  of  education.} 


32  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1737-45 

a  journey  in  my  head,  I  sat  clown  upon  the  declivity  of  the 
beach,  with  my  face  to  [towards]  the  sea,  which  was  now 
come  up  within  a  few  yards  of  my  feet ;  when  immediately  the 
sad  thoughts  of  the  wretched  condition  of  my  family,  and  the 
unsuccessfulness  of  all  endeavours  to  amend  it,  came  crowd- 
ing into  my  mind,  which  drove  me  into  a  deep  melancholy, 
and  ever  and  anon  forced  tears  from  my  eyes."  x  Distress  at 
last  forced  him  to  leave  the  country.  His  learning  and  virtue 
introduced  him  to  my  father ;  and  at  Putney  he  might  have 
found  at  least  a  temporary  shelter,  had  not  an  act  of  indiscre- 
tion driven  him  into  the  world.  One  day  reading  prayers  in 
the  parish  church,  he  most  unluckily  forgot  the  name  of  King 
George 2 :  his  patron,  a  loyal  subject,  dismissed  him  with 
some  reluctance,  and  a  decent  reward 3 ;  and  how  the  poor 
man  ended  his  days  I  have  never  been  able  to  learn.4  Mr. 
John  Kirkby  is  the  author  of  two  small  volumes  ;  Life  of  Auto- 
mathes  (London,  1745  5),  and  an  English  and  Latin  Grammar 
(London,  1746)  ;  which,  as  a  testimony  of  gratitude,  he  dedi- 
cated (Nov.  5th,  1745)  to  my  father.0     The  books  are  before 

1[Automathes,  p.  i.] 

2  [In  the  family  of  Gibbon's  grandfather  the  name  of  the  King  was  always 
omitted  in  family  prayers  (Auto.,  p.  17).] 

3  [Gibbon  says  that  Kirkby  was  guilty  of  a  "  public  refusal  to  name  King 
George"  (id.,  p.  221).  If  that  were  the  case  Mr.  Gibbon  could  scarcely  have 
retained  him  in  his  family.  Swift's  friend,  Dr.  Sheridan,  the  grandfather  of 
R.  B.  Sheridan,  lost  preferment  by  selecting  through  inadvertence,  as  the  text 
for  a  sermon  on  the  anniversary  of  the  accession  of  the  House  of  Hanover, 
"Sufficient  for  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof"  (Swift's  Works,  ed.  1883,  i. ,  290).] 

4  [He  died  in  1754.  According  to  the  Diet,  of  Nat.  Biog.,  in  1739  he  had 
been  made  Vicar  of  Waldershare,  and  in  1741,  Rector  of  Blackmanstone.  The 
vicarage  in  1835  was  worth  ^133,  but  the  rectory  only  ^44.  There  were  but 
five  inhabitants  and  the  church  was  "  desecrated  "  (Lewis's  Top.  Diet.).'] 

5  [  The  Capacity  and  Extent  of  the  Human  Understanding  Exemplified  in  the 
Extraordinary  Case  of  Automathes,  A  Young  NOBLEMAN,  -who  was  accident- 
ally left  in  his  infancy  upon  a  desolate  Island  and  continued  nineteen  years  in 
that  solitary  State  separate  from  all  Human  Society.  It  was  reprinted  in 
Weber's  Popular  Romances,  Edin.,  1812.  See  Notes  and  Queries,  6  s.,  xii., 
68,  177.] 

6  [Mr.  G.  K.  Fortescue  informs  me  that  "  no  copy  of  this  book  is  to  be  found 
in  the  catalogues  of  the  British  Museum,  Bodleian,  Advocates'  Library,  Edin- 
burgh, Trinity  College  Library,  Dublin.  It  is  mentioned  in  Lowndes'  Bio- 
grapher's Manual  apparently  only  on  the  strength  of  Gibbon's  allusion  to  it. 
It  is  not  in  Watt's  Bibliotheca  Britannica,  either  in  the  author  or  in  the  subject 
volume.  It  does  not  appear  in  Book  Prices  Current — a  list  of  all  books  sold  by 
public  auction  since  Dec,  1886,  nor  is  it  in  Quaritch's  Catalogues  or  that  of  any 
other  bookseller,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  see."] 


1737-45]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  33 

me :  from  them  the  pupil  may  judge  the  preceptor  ;  and, 
upon  the  whole,  his  judgment  will  not  be  unfavourable.  The 
grammar  is  executed  with  accuracy  and  skill,  and  I  know  not 
whether  any  better  existed  at  the  time  in  our  language :  but 
the  Life  of  Automathes  aspires  to  the  honours  of  a  philosophical 
fiction.  It  is  the  story  of  a  youth,  the  son  of  a  shipwrecked 
exile,  who  lives  alone  on  a  desert  island  from  infancy  to 
the  age  of  manhood.  A  hind  is  his  nurse  ;  he  inherits  a 
cottage,  with  many  useful  and  curious  instruments ;  some 
ideas  remain  of  the  education  of  his  two  first  years ;  some 
arts  are  borrowed  from  the  beavers  of  a  neighbouring  lake ; 
some  truths  are  revealed  in  supernatural  visions.  With  these 
helps,  and  his  own  industry,  Automathes  becomes  a  self- 
taught  though  speechless  philosopher,  who  had  investigated 
with  success  his  own  mind,  the  natural  world,  the  abstract 
sciences,  and  the  great  principles  of  morality  and  religion. 
The  author  is  not  entitled  to  the  merit  of  invention,  since  he 
has  blended  the  English  story  of  Robinson  Crusoe  with  the 
Arabian  romance  of  Hai  Ebn  Yokhdan,  which  he  might  have 
read  in  the  Latin  version  of  Pocock.1  In  the  Automathes  I 
cannot  praise  either  the  depth  of  thought  or  elegance  of  style  ; 
but  the  book  is  not  devoid  of  entertainment  or  instruction ; 
and  among  several  interesting  passages,  I  would  select  the 
discovery  of  fire,  which  produces  by  accidental  mischief  the 
discovery  of  conscience.'-2  A  man  who  had  thought  so  much 
on  the  subjects  of  language  and  education  was  surely  no 
ordinary  preceptor :  my  childish  years,  and  his  hasty  de- 
parture, prevented  me  from  enjoying  the  full  benefit  of  his 

1  [I  owe  the  following  note  to  Professor  Margoliouth  :  "  The  story  of  Hagy 
Ibn  Yakzan  is  a  philosophical  work,  of  which  the  purport  is  to  show  how  a  child 
left  on  a  desert  island,  by  observing  the  phenomena  of  nature,  could  arrive  at 
the  true  religion.  It  was  edited  with  translation  by  Pocock's  son,  with  the  title 
of  Philosophies  Autodidactus,  Oxford,  1671 — of  course  in  Latin." 

Gibbon  described  it  as  "a  fine,  though  irregular  production  of  Arabian 
genius  and  philosophy"  {Misc.    Works,  v.,  234).] 

2  [The  axe  with  which  he  cut  down  an  old  tree  struck  out  sparks  on  a  stone, 
and  so  set  the  chips  alight.  The  next  day  he  repeated  the  experiment  ;  the  fire 
spread,  and  destroyed  beasts  and  fowls.  "  With  what  horror  was  I  seized  ! 
.  .  .  This  accident  gave  me  the  first  sad  experience  of  the  severe  lashes  of  a 
self-condemning  conscience"  (p.  187).] 

3 


34  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1746 

lessons  ;  but  they  enlarged  my  knowledge  of  arithmetic, 
and  left  me  a  clear  impression  of  the  English  and  Latin 
rudiments. 

In  my  ninth  year  (January,  1746),  in  a  lucid  interval1  of 
comparative  health,  my  father  adopted  the  convenient  and 
customary  mode  of  English  education ;  and  I  was  sent  to 
Kingston-upon-Thames,  to  a  school  of  about  seventy  boys, 
which  was  kept  by  Dr.  Wooddeson  and  his  assistants.  Every 
time  I  have  since  passed  over  Putney  Common,  I  have  always 
noticed  the  spot  where  my  mother,  as  we  drove  along  in  the 
coach,  admonished  me  that  I  was  now  going  into  the  world, 
and  must  learn  to  think  and  act  for  myself.  The  expression 
may  appear  ludicrous  ;  yet  there  is  not,  in  the  course  of  life, 
a  more  remarkable  change  than  the  removal  of  a  child  from 
the  luxury  and  freedom  of  a  wealthy  house,  to  the  frugal  diet 
and  strict  subordination  of  a  school  ;  from  the  tenderness  of 
parents,  and  the  obsequiousness  of  servants,  to  the  rude 
familiarity  of  his  equals,  the  insolent  tyranny  of  his  seniors, 
and  the  rod,  perhaps,  of  a  cruel  and  capricious  pedagogue.2 
Such  hardships  may  steel  the  mind  and  body  against  the 
injuries  of  fortune  ;  but  my  timid  reserve  was  astonished  by 
the  crowd  and  tumult  of  the  school  ;  the  want  of  strength 
and  activity  disqualified  me  for  the  sports  of  the  play-field  ; 
nor  have  I  forgotten  how  often  in  the  year  forty-six  I  was 
reviled  and  buffeted  for  the  sins  of  my  Tory  ancestors.3     By 


1  ["  The  long  dissensions  of  the  two  Houses  had  had  lucid  intervals  and  happy- 
pauses  "  {History  of  Henry  VII.,  Bacon's  Works,  ed.  1803,  v.,  9). 

"  Some  beams  of  wit  on  other  souls  may  fall, 
Strike  through  and  make  a  lucid  interval." 

(Dryden,  MacFlecknoe,  1.  21.) 
Gibbon  may  have  borrowed  the  phrase  from  Johnson,  who,  in  a  letter  to 
Mrs.  Thrale,  written  during  illness,  said:   "I  snatch  every  lucid  interval,  and 
animate  myself  with  such  amusements  as  the  time  offers"  (Johnson's  Letters, 
»'-.  377)-] 

2  ["  With  the  voice  of  a  schoolmaster,  or,  what  is  often  much  the  same,  of  a 
tyrant "  ( Tom  Jones,  bk.  xi. ,  ch.  7).  Fielding  wrote  this  in  1749,  three  years 
after  Gibbon  went  to  his  first  school.  For  instances  of  the  cruelty  of  school- 
masters in  those  days  see  Boswell's  Johnson,  i.,  44;  ii.,  144,  146,  157  ;  iii. ,  212.] 

3  [A  writer  in  The  Gent.  Mag.,  1794,  p.  199,  who  signs  himself  "  D.  P." 
[Daniel  Prince],  says,  on  the  authority  of  one  of  Gibbon's  school-fellows,  that 
"  he  was  a  most  unhealthy,  weakly  child  when  at  school  at  Kingston  ".] 


1746]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  35 

the  common  methods  of  discipline,  at  the  expense  of  many 
tears  and   some    blood,    I    purchased   the   knowledge  of  the 
Latin    syntax  :  and    not   long  since   I    was  possessed   of  the 
dirty  volumes  of  Phsedrus  and  Cornelius  Nepos,  which  I  pain- 
fully construed  and  darkly  understood.       The  choice  of  these 
authors  is  not  injudicious.     The  lives  of  Cornelius  Nepos,  the 
friend  of  Atticus  and  Cicero,  are  composed  in  the  style  of 
the  purest  age  :  his  simplicity  is  elegant,  his  brevity  copious  ; 
he   exhibits  a   series   of  men  and   manners  ;  and   with   such 
illustrations,  as  every  pedant  is  not  indeed  qualified  to  give, 
this  classic  biographer  may  initiate  a  young  student  in  the 
history  of  Greece  and  Rome.1     The  use  of  fables  or  apologues 
has  been  approved  in  every  age  from  ancient  India  to  modern 
Europe.     They  convey  in  familiar  images  the  truths  of  moral- 
ity and  prudence  ;  and   the   most  childish  understanding  (I 
advert  to  the  scruples  of  Rousseau)  will  not  suppose  either 
that  beasts  do  speak,  or  that  men  may  lie.2     A  fable  repre- 
sents the  genuine  characters  of  animals  ;  and  a  skilful  master 
might  extract  from  Pliny  and  Buffon  some  pleasing  lessons 
of  natural  history,  a  science  well  adapted  to  the  taste  and 
capacity  of  children.     The  Latinity  of  Phaedrus  is  not  exempt 
from  an  alloy  of  the  silver  age  ;  but  his  manner  is  concise, 
terse  and  sententious  :  the  Thracian  slave  discreetly  breathes 
the  spirit  of  a  freeman  ;  and   when   the   text   is  sound,   the 
style  is  perspicuous.     But   his  fables,   after  a  long  oblivion, 
wei*e  first  published  by  Peter  Pithou  from  a  corrupt  manu- 
script.     The  labours  of  fifty  editors  confess  the  defects  of  the 

1  [Gibbon,  in  1756,  wrote  of  Nepos  :  "II  excelle  dans  cet  art,  la  difficulty 
duquel  rend  les  bons  abreg^s  si  peu  communs,  celui  de  saisir  les  traits  qui 
peignent  les  hommes  et  les  6v£nemens,  et  de  savoir  laisser  a  l'6cart  toutes  les 
circonstances  qui  ne  font  qu'embarrasser  une  narration,  et  d^tourner  l'attention 
du  lecteur  du  principal  sur  l'accessoire  "  (Misc.   Works,  iv.,  416).] 

2  ["  Comment  peut-on  s'aveugler  assezi  pour  appeller  les  fables  la  morale 
des  enfans  ?  sans  songer  que  l'apologue  en  les  amusant  les  abuse,  que  s6duits 
par  le  mensonge  ils  laissent  6chapper  la  vent£,  et  que  ce  qu'on  fait  pour  leur 
rendre  l'instruction  agreable  les  empeche  d'en  profiter.  Les  fables  peuvent 
instruire  les  hommes,  mais  il  faut  dire  la  verite"  nue  aux  enfans  ;  sitot  qu'on  la 
couvre  d'un  voile,  ils  ne  se  donnent  plus  la  peine  de  le  lever."  Hereupon  follows 
an  analysis  of  La  Fontaine's  Le  Corbeau  et  le  Rena?-d,  showing  how  ignorant 
Rousseau  often  was  of  that  Nature  which  he  professed  to  have  mastered 
\Emile,  livre  ii.  ;  GLuvres  de  Rousseau,  ed.  1780,  vii.,  209).] 


36  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1747 

copy,  as  well  as  the  value  of  the  original  ;  and  the  schoolboy 
may  have  been  whipt  for  misapprehending  a  passage,  which 
Bentley  could  not  restore,  and  which  Burman  could  not 
explain.1 

My  studies  were  too  frequently  interrupted  by  sickness  ; 
and  after  a  real  or  nominal  residence  at  Kingston  school  of 
near  two  yeai*s,  I  was  finally  recalled  (December,  1747)  by  my 
mother's  death,  which  was  occasioned  in  her  thirty-eighth 
year  by  the  consequences  of  her  last  labour.  I  was  too 
young  to  feel  the  importance  of  my  loss  ;  and  the  image 
of  her  person  and  conversation  is  faintly  imprinted  in  my 
memory.  The  affectionate  heart  of  my  aunt,  Catherine 
Porten,  bewailed  a  sister  and  a  friend  ;  but  my  poor  father 
was  inconsolable,  and  the  transport  of  grief  seemed  to 
threaten  his  life  or  his  reason.  I  can  never  forget  the  scene 
of  our  first  interview,  some  weeks  after  the  fatal  event ;  the 
awful  silence,  the  room  hung  with  black,2  the  mid-day  tapers, 
his  sighs  and  tears ;  his  praises  of  my  mother,  a  saint  in 
heaven  ;  his  solemn  adjuration  that  I  would  cherish  her 
memory  and  imitate  her  virtues  ;  and  the  fervour  with  which 
he  kissed  and  blessed  me  as  the  sole  surviving  pledge  of  their 
loves.  The  storm  of  passion  insensibly  subsided  into  calmer 
melancholy.  At  a  convivial  meeting  of  his  friends,  Mr. 
Gibbon  might  affect  or  enjoy  a  gleam  of  cheerfulness  ;  but 
his  plan  of  happiness  was  for  ever  destroyed  ; 3  and  after  the 
loss  of  his  companion  he  was  left  alone  in  a  world,  of  which 
the  business  and  pleasure  were  to  him  irksome  or  insipid. 
After  some  unsuccessful  trials  he  renounced  the  tumult  of 
London  and  the  hospitality  of  Putney,  and  buried  himself  in 

1  [See  Appendix  5.] 

2  [On  Swift's  death  his  cousin,  Mrs.  Whiteway,  reproached  his  executors 
with  not  hanging  the  room  in  which  he  lay  with  black  (Swift's  Works,  ed. 
1883,  i.,426).] 

a  [Swift  wrote  to  a  friend  who  had  lost  his  wife  :  "  Such  misfortunes  seem  to 
break  the  whole  scheme  of  man's  life  "  (ib. ,  xvii.,  201).  Johnson  wrote  to  Mrs. 
Thrale  on  the  death  of  her  only  son  :  "  I  know  that  a  whole  system  of  hopes, 
and  designs,  and  expectations  is  swept  away  at  once  "  (Johnson's  Letters,  i., 
383).  To  a  friend  he  wrote  on  the  loss  of  his  wife  :  "  A  loss  such  as  yours  .  .  . 
breaks  the  whole  system  of  purposes  and  hopes  "  (ib, ,  ii.,  67).] 


1748]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  37 

the  rural  or  rather  rustic1  solitude  of  Buriton,2  from  which, 
during  several  years,  he  seldom  emerged. 

As  far  back  as  I  can  remember,  the  house,  near  Putney- 
bridge  and  churchyard,  of  my  maternal  grandfather  appears 
in  the  light  of  my  proper  and  native  home.  It  was  there  that 
I  was  allowed  to  spend  the  greatest  part  of  my  time,  in  sick- 
ness or  in  health,  during  my  school  vacations  and  my  parents' 
residence  in  London,  and  finally  after  my  mother's  death. 
Three  months  after  that  event,  in  the  spring  of  1748,  the 
commercial  ruin  of  her  father,  Mr.  James  Porten,  was  accom- 
plished and  declared.  He  suddenly  absconded  ; 3  but  as  his 
effects  were  not  sold,  nor  the  house  evacuated  till  the  Christ- 
mas following,  I  enjoyed  during  the  whole  year  the  society  of 
my  aunt,  without  much  consciousness  of  her  impending  fate. 
I  feel  a  melancholy  pleasure  in  repeating  my  obligations  to 
that  excellent  woman,  Mrs.  Catherine  Porten,  the  true  mother 
of  my  mind  as  well  as  of  my  health.4  Her  natural  good  sense 
was  improved  by  the  perusal  of  the  best  books  in  the  English 
language  ;  and  if  her  reason  was  sometimes  clouded  by  preju- 
dice, her  sentiments  were  never  disguised  by  hypocrisy  or 
affectation.  Her  indulgent  tenderness,  the  frankness  of  her 
temper,  and  my  innate  rising  curiosity,  soon  removed  all 
distance  between  us  :  like  friends  of  an  equal  age,  we  freely 
conversed  on  every  topic,  familiar  or  abstruse  ;  and  it  was  her 
delight  and  reward  to  observe  the  first  shoots  of  my  young 


1  [Johnson's  first  definition  of  rustic  is  "rural  "  ;  but  he  gives  as  a  second 
meaning  "  rude,  untaught,  inelegant,"  and  as  a  third,  "  brutal,  savage".] 

2  [See  post,  p.  1 16.  ] 

8  [These  three  words  were  omitted  in  the  second  edition.] 
4  [On  her  death  in  1786  Gibbon  wrote :  "  A  good  understanding  and  an 
excellent  heart,  with  health,  spirits,  and  a  competency,  to  live  in  the  midst  of 
her  friends  till  the  age  of  fourscore,  and  then  to  shut  her  eyes  without  pain  or 
remorse.  ...  I  was  a  puny  child,  neglected  by  my  mother,  starved  by  my 
nurse,  and  of  whose  being  very  little  care  or  expectation  was  entertained  ; 
without  her  maternal  vigilance  I  should  either  have  been  in  my  grave,  or  im- 
perfectly lived  a  crooked  ricketty  [sic]  monster,  a  burthen  to  myself  and  others. 
To  her  instructions  I  owe  the  first  rudiments  of  knowledge,  the  first  exercise  of 
reason,  and  a  taste  for  books,  which  is  still  the  pleasure  and  glory  of  my  life  ; 
and  though  she  taught  me  neither  language  nor  science,  she  was  certainly  the 
most  useful  preceptor  I  ever  had  "  {Corres.,  ii.,  144).] 


38  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1748 

ideas.1  Pain  and  languor  were  often  soothed  by  the  voice  of 
instruction  and  amusement ;  and  to  her  kind  lessons  I  ascribe 
my  early  and  invincible  love  of  reading,  which  I  would  not 
exchange  for  the  treasures  of  India.  I  should  perhaps  be 
astonished,  were  it  possible  to  ascertain  the  date  at  which 
a  favourite  tale  was  engraved,  by  frequent  repetition,  in  my 
memory  :  the  Cavern  of  the  Winds  ;  the  Palace  of  Felicity  ; 
and  the  fatal  moment,  at  the  end  of  three  months  or  centuries, 
when  Prince  Adolphus  is  overtaken  by  Time,  who  had  worn 
out  so  many  pair  of  wings  in  the  pursuit.-  Before  I  left 
Kingston  school  I  was  well  acquainted  with  Pope's  Homer 
and  the  Arabian  Nights  Entertainments,  two  books  which  will 
always  please  by  the  moving  picture  of  human  manners  and 
specious  miracles  ;  'A  nor  was  I  then  capable  of  discerning  that 
Pope's  translation  is  a  portrait  endowed  with  every  merit, 
excepting  that  of  likeness  to  the  original.4  The  verses  of 
Pope  accustomed  my  ear  to  the  sound  of  poetic  harmony  ; 5 
in  the  death  of  Hector,  and  the  shipwreck  of  Ulysses,  I  tasted 
the  new  emotions  of  terror  and  pity ;  and  seriously  disputed 
with  my  aunt  on  the  vices  and  virtues  of  the  heroes  of  the 
Trojan  war.  From  Pope's  Homer  to  Dryden's  Virgil  was  an 
easy  transition  ;  but  I  know  not  how,  from  some  fault  in  the 
author,  the  translator,  or  the  reader,  the  pious  yEneas  did  not 
so  forcibly  seize  on  my  imagination  ;  and  I  derived  more 
pleasure  from  Ovid's  Metamorphoses,  especially  in  the  fall  of 

1  ["  Delightful  task  !  to  rear  the  tender  thought, 
To  teach  the  young  idea  how  to  shoot." 

(Thomson's  Seasons  :   "  Spring,"  1.  1149.) 
For  Gibbon's  obligations  to  his  aunt  see  Misc.   Works,  ii.,  388,  392.] 
2  [See  Appendix  6. J 

3["Speciosa  .  .  .   miracula. " 

(Horace,  Ars  Poet.,  1.  144.) 
"  Pilgrimage,  and  the  holy  wars,  introduced  into  Europe  the  specious  miracles 
of  Arabian  magic"  {The  Decline,  iv.,  151).] 

4["  Mr.  Pope,  without  perceiving  it,  has  improved  the  theology  of  Homer  " 
(id.,  i.,  29).  "  It  is  a  pretty  poem,  Mr.  Pope,"  said  Bentley  ;  "  but  you  must 
not  call  it  Homer"  (Boswell's  Johnso?i,  iii.,  256,  #.).] 

5["  I  do  not  know,"  writes  Lord  Sheffield,  "  that  Mr.  Gibbon  ever  wrote  a 
line  of  verse  ;  yet  he  by  no  means  neglected  the  Poets,  but  would  read  them 
aloud  even  in  his  chaise  when  travelling,  particularly  Homer  "  (Misc.  Works, 
Preface,  p.  10).  See  Read's  Historic  Studies,  ii.,  450,  and  D'Haussonville's 
Le  Salon  de  Madame  Necker,  1882,  i.,  49,  for  some  of  his  French  verses.] 


1749]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  39 

Phaethon,  and  the  speeches  of  Ajax  and  Ulysses.  My  grand- 
father's flight  unlocked  the  door  of  a  tolerable  library  ;  and  I 
turned  over  many  English  pages  of  poetry  and  romance,  of 
history  and  travels.  Where  a  title  attracted  my  eye,  without 
fear  or  awe  I  snatched  the  volume  from  the  shelf;  and  Mrs. 
Porten,  who  indulged  herself  in  moral  and  religious  specula- 
tions, was  more  prone  to  encourage  than  to  check  a  curiosity 
above  the  strength  of  a  boy.  This  year  (1748),  the  twelfth  of 
my  age,  I  shall  note  as  the  most  propitious  to  the  growth  of 
my  intellectual  stature. 

The  relics  of  my  grandfather's  fortune  afforded  a  bare 
annuity  for  his  own  maintenance ;  and  his  daughter,  my 
worthy  aunt,  who  had  already  passed  her  fortieth  year,  was 
left  destitute.  Her  noble  spirit  scorned  a  life  of  obligation 
and  dependence  ;  and  after  revolving  several  schemes,  she 
preferred  the  humble  industry  of  keeping  a  boarding-house 
for  Westminster-school,1  where  she  laboriously  earned  a 
competence  for  her  old  age.-  This  singular  opportunity  of 
blending  the  advantages  of  private  and  public  education 
decided  my  father.  After  the  Christmas  holidays  in  January, 
1749,  I  accompanied  Mrs.  Porten  to  her  new  house  in  College- 
street  ;  and  was  immediately  entered  in  the  school,  of  which 
Dr.  John  Nicoll  was  at  that  time  head-master.3  At  first  I 
was  alone  :  but  my  aunt's  resolution  was  praised ;  her 
character  was  esteemed ;  her  friends  were  numerous  and 
active  :  in  the  course  of  some  years  she  became  the  mother  of 
forty  or  fifty  boys,  for  the  most  part  of  family  and  fortune ; 
and  as  her  primitive  habitation  was  too  narrow,  she  built  and 
occupied  a  spacious  mansion  in  Dean's  Yard.  I  shall  always 
be  ready  to  join  in  the  common  opinion,  that  our  public 
schools,  which  have  produced  so  many  eminent  characters, 
are  the  best  adapted  to  the  genius  and  constitution  of  the 


1  It  is  said  in  the  family,  that  she  was  principally  induced  to  this  undertaking 
by  her  affection  for  her  nephew,  whose  weak  constitution  required  her  constant 
and  unremitted  attention. — SHEFFIELD. 

2["  An  easy  competency,"  Gibbon  described  it  (Misc.  Works,  ii.,  392).] 

3  [See  Appendix  7.] 


40  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1749 

English  people.  A  boy  of  spirit  may  acquire  a  previous  and 
practical  experience  of  the  world ;  and  his  playfellows  may 
be  the  future  friends  of  his  heart  or  his  interest.1  In  a  free 
intercourse  with  his  equals,  the  habits  of  truth,  fortitude,  and 
prudence  will  insensibly  be  matured.  Birth  and  riches  are 
measured  by  the  standard  of  personal  merit ;  and  the  mimic 
scene  of  a  rebellion  has  displayed,  in  their  true  colours,  the 
ministers  and  patriots  of  the  rising  generation.2  Our  semin- 
aries of  learning  do  not  exactly  correspond  with  the  precept 
of  a  Spartan  king,  "  that  the  child  should  be  instructed  in 
the  arts,  which  will  be  useful  to  the  man3  "  ;  since  a  finished 
scholar  may  emerge  from  the  head  of  Westminster  or  Eton, 
in  total  ignorance  of  the  business  and  conversation  of  English 
gentlemen  in  the  latter  end  of  the  eighteenth  century.  But 
these  schools  may  assume  the  merit  of  teaching  all  that  they 
pretend  to  teach,  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages :  they  de- 
posit in  the  hands  of  a  disciple  the  keys  of  two  valuable 
chests ;  nor  can  he  complain,  if  they  are  afterwards  lost  or 
neglected  by  his  own  fault.  The  necessity  of  leading  in  equal 
ranks  so  many  unequal  powers  of  capacity  and  application, 

1  [Fielding  wrote  in  1752:  "Much  the  greater  part  of  our  lads  of  fashion 
return  from  school  at  fifteen  or  sixteen  very  little  wiser,  and  not  at  all  the  better, 
for  having  been  sent  thither"  (Fielding's  Works,  ed.  1806,  x. ,  116). 

In  the  same  year  Chesterfield  wrote  to  a  friend  :  "If  you  would  have  your 
son  be  a  very  learned  man,  you  must  certainly  send  him  to  some  great  school ; 
but  if  you  would  have  him  be  a  better  thing,  a  very  honest  man,  you  should  have 
him  a  porUe  of  your  own  inspection.  At  those  great  schools  the  heart  is  wholly 
neglected  by  those  who  ought  to  form  it  "  (Chesterfield's  Misc.    Works,  iv., 

243)- 

For  Johnson's  opinion  of  public  and  private  education  see  BosweH's/<Vztt.swz, 
ii.,  407  ;  iii.,  12  ;  iv.,  312  ;  v.,  85.] 

2  [Johnson  writes  in  the  Life  of  Addison  :  "  The  practice  of  barring-out  was 
a  savage  licence,  practised  in  many  schools  to  the  end  of  the  last  century,  by 
which  the  boys,  when  the  periodical  vacation  drew  near,  growing  petulant  at 
the  approach  of  liberty,  some  days  before  the  time  of  regular  recess,  took 
possession  of  the  school,  of  which  they  barred  the  doors,  and  bade  their  master 
defiance  from  the  windows  ".  Johnson  goes  on  to  mention  a  story  which  had 
reached  him  that  one  such  barring-out  at  Lichfield  School  "  was  planned  and 
conducted  by  Addison"  (Johnson's  Works,  vii. ,  419).] 

3["  'ETTiforovvros  84  rivos  Tiva  Set  fj.avda.veiv  robs  iraiSas, 
t<xDt'  (tlirev)  oTs  xal  &v8pes  yevdfievoL  xP'ho-ovTai." 

(Agesilaus. ) 
"  Cuidam  autem  quaerenti  quaenam  pueris  discenda  forent,  Ea  respondit 
quibus  et  viri  sint  usuri." 

{sipophthegmata  Graeca  Regum  et  Ducum,  Hen.  Steph. ,  1568,  pp.  306,  307.)] 


1750-1]        MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  41 

will  prolong  to  eight  or  ten  years  the  juvenile  studies,  which 
might  he  despatched  in  half  that  time  hy  the  skilful  master 
of  a  single  pupil.  Yet  even  the  repetition  of  exercise  and 
discipline  contributes  to  fix  in  a  vacant  mind  the  verbal 
science  of  grammar  and  prosody  :  and  the  private  or  voluntary 
student,  who  possesses  the  sense  and  spirit  of  the  classics,  may 
offend,  by  a  false  quantity,  the  scrupulous  ear  of  a  well -flogged 
critic.  For  myself,  I  must  be  content  with  a  very  small  share 
of  the  civil  and  literary  fruits  of  a  public  school.  In  the  space 
of  two  years  (174.9,  1750)  interrupted  by  danger  and  debility, 
I  painfully  climbed  into  the  third  form ;  and  my  riper  age 
was  left  to  acquire  the  beauties  of  the  Latin,  and  the  rudi- 
ments of  the  Greek  tongue.  Instead  of  audaciously  mingling 
in  the  sports,  the  quarrels,  and  the  connections  of  our  little 
world,  I  was  still  cherished  at  home  under  the  maternal  wing 
of  my  aunt ;  and  my  removal  from  Westminster  long  preceded 
the  approach  of  manhood. 

The  violence  and  variety  of  my  complaint,  which  had 
excused  my  frequent  absence  from  Westminster  School,  at 
length  engaged  Mrs.  Porten,  with  the  advice  of  physicians,  to 
conduct  me  to  Bath  :  at  the  end  of  the  Michaelmas  vacation 
(1750)  she  quitted  me  with  reluctance,  and  I  remained  several 
months  under  the  care  of  a  trusty  maid-servant.  A  strange 
nervous  affection,  which  alternately  contracted  my  legs,  and 
produced,  without  any  visible  symptoms,  the  most  excruciat- 
ing pain,  was  ineffectually  opposed  by  the  various  methods  of 
bathing  and  pumping.  From  Bath  I  was  transported  to 
Winchester,  to  the  house  of  a  physician  ;  and  after  the  failure 
of  his  medical  skill,  we  had  again  recourse  to  the  virtues  of 
the  Bath  waters.  During  the  intervals  of  these  fits,  I  moved 
with  my  father  to  Buriton  and  Putney;  and  a  short  un- 
successful trial  was  attempted  to  renew  my  attendance  at 
Westminster  School.  But  my  infirmities  could  not  be  recon- 
ciled with  the  hours  and  discipline  of  a  public  seminary  ;  and 
instead  of  a  domestic  tutor,  who  might  have  watched  the 
favourable  moments,  and  gently  advanced  the  progress  of  my 
learning,  my  father  was  too  easily  content  with  such  occasional 


42  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1752 

teachers  as  the  different  places  of  my  residence  could  supply. 
I  was  never  forced,  and  seldom  was  I  persuaded,  to  admit 
these  lessons  :  yet  I  read  with  a  clergyman  at  Bath  some  odes 
of  Horace,  and  several  episodes  of  Virgil,  which  gave  me  an 
imperfect  and  transient  enjoyment  of  the  Latin  poets.  It 
might  now  be  apprehended  that  I  should  continue  for  life  an 
illiterate  cripple  ;  but,  as  I  approached  my  sixteenth  year, 
Nature  displayed  in  my  favour  her  mysterious  energies  :  my 
constitution  was  fortified  and  fixed  ;  and  my  disorders,  instead 
of  growing  with  my  growth  and  strengthening  with  my 
strength,  most  wonderfully  vanished.  I  have  never  possessed 
or  abused  the  insolence  of  health  1 :  but  since  that  time  few 
persons  have  been  more  exempt  from  real  or  imaginary  ills, 
and,  till  I  am  admonished  by  the  gout,  the  reader  will  no 
more  be  troubled  with  the  history  of  my  bodily  complaints. 
My  unexpected  recovery  again  encouraged  the  hope  of  my 
education  ;  and  I  was  placed  at  Esher,  in  Surrey,  in  the  house 
of  the  Reverend  Mr.  Philip  Francis,  in  a  pleasant  spot,  which 
promised  to  unite  the  various  benefits  of  air,  exercise,  and 
study  (January,  1752).  The  translator  of  Horace  might  have 
taught  me  to  relish  the  Latin  poets,  had  not  my  friends  dis- 
covered in  a  few  weeks,  that  he  preferred  the  pleasures  of 
London,  to  the  instruction  of  his  pupils.2  My  father's  per- 
plexity at  this  time,  rather  than  his  prudence,  was  urged  to 
embrace  a  singular  and  desperate  measure.  Without  prepara- 
tion or  delay  he  carried  me  to  Oxford  3 ;  and  I  was  matricu- 


l[JPost,  p.  241.     For  his  neglect  of  his  health  see  post,  p.  258.] 

2  ["Dr.  Johnson  said:  'The  lyrical  part  of  Horace  never  can  be  perfectly 
translated  ;  so  much  of  the  excellence  is  in  the  numbers  and  the  expression. 
Francis  has  done  it  the  best ;  I'll  take  his,  five  out  of  six,  against  them  all' ' 
(Boswell's  Johnson,  iii.,  356). 

Francis  was  the  father  of  Sir  Philip  Francis,  who  is  commonly  supposed  to 
have  been  Junius.] 

•"•[In  a  note  at  the  end  of  the  MS.  of  Gibbon's  Memoirs  in  the  British 
Museum  it  is  stated  that  the  greatest  number  of  matriculations  at  Oxford 
between  1700  and  1800  was  372 — in  the  year  1717  ;  the  least  number  was  146 
—in  1756.  In  1750  190  matriculated.  According  to  another  MS.,  drawn  up  in 
1807  by  the  Registrar  of  Cambridge  University,  the  greatest  number  of  matricula- 
tions at  Cambridge  between  1759  and  1800  was  210 — in  1792  ;  the  least  number 
was  92 — in  1766. 

The  population  of  Oxford  in  1750  (excluding  the  inhabitants  of  the  colleges) 


1752]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  43 

lated  in  the  university  as  a  gentleman  commoner  of  Magdalen 
college,  before  I  had  accomplished  the  fifteenth  year  of  my 
age  (April  3,  1752). 

The  curiosity,  which  had  been  implanted  in  my  infant 
mind,  was  still  alive  and  active ;  but  my  reason  was  not 
sufficiently  informed  to  understand  the  value,  or  to  lament 
the  loss  of  three  precious  years  from  my  entrance  at  West- 
minster to  my  admission  at  Oxford.  Instead  of  repining  at 
my  long  and  frequent  confinement  to  the  chamber  or  the 
couch,  I  secretly  rejoiced  in  those  infirmities,  which  delivered 
me  from  the  exercises  of  the  school,  and  the  society  of  my 
equals.  As  often  as  I  was  tolerably  exempt  from  danger  and 
pain,  reading,  free  desultory  reading,  was  the  employment  and 
comfort  of  my  solitary  hours.  At  Westminster,  my  aunt  sought 
only  to  amuse  and  indulge  me  ;  in  my  stations  at  Bath  and 
Winchester,  at  Buriton  and  Putney,  a  false  compassion  re- 
spected my  sufferings ;  and  I  was  allowed,  without  controul 
or  advice,  to  gratify  the  wanderings  of  an  unripe  taste.  My 
indiscriminate  appetite  subsided  by  degrees  in  the  historic 
line  l ;  and  since  philosophy  has  exploded  all  innate  ideas  and 
natural  propensities,2  I  must  ascribe  this  choice  to  the 
assiduous  perusal  of  the  Universal  History,  as  the  octavo 
volumes  successively  appeared.3     This  unequal   work,  and  a 

was  8,292  [Gent.  Mag.,  1752,  p.  347).  "  The  north  side  of  the  city  is  open  to 
corn-fields  and  enclosures  for  many  miles  together,  without  an  hill  to  intercept 
the  free  current  of  air,  which  purifies  it  from  all  noxious  vapours.  The  soil  is 
dry,  being  on  a  fine  gravel,  which  renders  it  as  healthful  and  pleasant  a  spot  as 
any  in  the  Kingdom  "  {Pocket  Companion  for  Oxford,  ed.  1762,  p.  2). 

"  Oxford  stands  in  a  beautiful  plain  and  sweet  air"  [Gent.  Mag.,  1765,  p.  73).] 

1["  Johnson  .  .  .  was  at  all  times  prompt  to  repress  colloquial  barbarisms 
such  as  .  .  .  the  civil  line,  the  banking  line"  (Boswell's  Johnson,  iii.,  196).] 
2  [Dr.  Watts  wrote  in  1725 :  ' '  There  has  been  a  great  controversy  about 
the  origin  of  ideas,  viz. ,  whether  any  of  our  ideas  are  innate  or  no,  that  is,  born 
with  us,  and  naturally  belonging  to  our  minds.  Mr.  Locke  utterly  denies  it ; 
others  as  positively  affirm  it"  (Logic,  i.,  3,  i. ). 

For  "a  strong  example  of  the  innate  difference  of  characters"  see  The 
Decline,  ii. ,  256.     See  also  post,  p.  143.] 

8[To  Gibbon  might  be  applied  Dryden's  lines — 

"  For  what  in  Nature's  dawn  the  child  admired, 
The  youth  endeavoured,  and  the  man  acquired?" 

(Epistle  to  Kneller,  1.  130.) 
In  the  Register  of  Books  in   The  Gent.  Mag.  for  July,  1740,  p.  360,  is  "An 


44  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1752 

treatise  of  Hearne,  the  Ductor  kistoricus  l  referred  and  intro- 
duced me  to  the  Greek  and  Roman  historians,  to  as  many  at 
least  as  were  accessible  to  an  English  reader.  All  that  I 
could  find  were  greedily  devoured,  from  Littlebury's  lame 
Herodotus  and  Spelman's  valuable  Xenophon,  to  the  pompous 
folios  of  Gordon's  Tacitus  and  a  ragged  Procopius  of  the 
beginning  of  the  last  century.  The  cheap  acquisition  of  so 
much  knowledge  confirmed  my  dislike  to  the  study  of 
languages ;  and  I  argued  with  Mrs.  Porten,  that,  were  I 
master  of  Greek  and  Latin,  I  must  interpret  to  myself  in 
English  the  thoughts  of  the  original,  and  that  such  ex- 
temporary versions  must  be  inferior  to  the  elaborate  transla- 
tions of  professed  scholars ;  a  silly  sophism,  which  could  not 
easily  be  confuted  by  a  person  ignorant  of  any  other  language 
than  her  own.  From  the  ancient  I  leaped  to  the  modern 
world  :  many  crude  lumps  of  Speed,  Rapin,  Mezeray,  Davila, 
Machiavel,  Father  Paul,  Bower,  &c,  I  devoured  like  so  many 
novels  ;  and  I  swallowed  with  the  same  voracious  appetite  the 
descriptions  of  India  and  China,  of  Mexico  and  Peru. 

My  first  introduction  to  the  historic  scenes,  which  have 
since  engaged  so  many  years  of  my  life,  must  be  ascribed 
to  an  accident.  In  the  summer  of  1751,  I  accompanied  my 
father  on  a  visit  to  Mr.  Hoare's,  in  Wiltshire  ;  but  I  was  less 

Universal  History  from  the  earliest  Account  of  Time  to  the  present.  In  five 
volumes  in  folio.  Price  ^10  10s.  6d."  In  the  Register  for  March,  1749,  P- 
144,  is  "  Universal  History,  in  8vo,  vol.  xx.,  and  last.     Price  5s.  in  boards." 

Gibbon  in  The  Decline,  v.,  40,  describes  its  authors  as  "these  learned 
bigots,"  and  v.,  455,  as  "its  self-sufficient  compilers".  On  p.  396  he  says  of 
the  850  folio  pages  given  to  Mahomet  and  the  Caliphs:  "The  dull  mass  is 
not  quickened  by  a  spark  of  philosophy  or  taste".  On  p.  318  he  writes:  "A 
nameless  doctor  has  formally  demonstrated  the  truth  of  Christianity  by  the 
independence  of  the  Arabs  ".  The  list  of  the  writers  of  the  Universal  History 
drawn  up  by  Johnson  (Johnson's  Letters,  ii.,  431)  shows  that  this  "nameless 
doctor"  was  John  Swinton.  He  it  was  who  preaching  to  some  convicts  who 
were  to  be  hanged  next  morning,  "told  them  that  he  should  give  them  the 
remainder  of  what  he  had  to  say  on  the  subject  the  next  Lord's  Day"  (Bos- 
well's  Johnson,  i.,  273). 

Charles  Lamb,  who  at  the  age  of  six  was  taken  to  the  theatre  for  the  first 
time,  and  saw  Artaxerxes,  writes:  "I  had  dabbled  a  little  in  the  Universal 
History — the  ancient  part  of  it — and  here  was  the  Court  of  Persia  "  (Essays  of 
Elia,  ed.  1889,  p.  in).] 

1  [For  this  work  and  those  mentioned  on  this  and  the  next  page  see 
Appendix  8.] 


1752]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  45 

delighted  with  the  beauties  of  Stourhead,  than  with  discover- 
ing in  the  library  a  common  book,  the  Continuation  of 
Eachard's  Roman  History,  which  is  indeed  executed  with 
more  skill  and  taste  than  the  previous  work.  To  me  the 
reigns  of  the  successors  of  Constantine  were  absolutely  new  ; 
and  I  was  immersed  in  the  passage  of  the  Goths  over  the 
Danube,1  when  the  summons  of  the  dinner-bell  reluctantly 
dragged  me  from  my  intellectual  feast.  This  transient  glance 
served  rather  to  irritate  than  to  appease  my  curiosity ;  and  as 
soon  as  I  returned  to  Bath  I  procured  the  second  and  third 
volumes  of  Howell's  History  of  the  Woi'ld,  which  exhibit  the 
Byzantine  period  on  a  larger  scale.  Mahomet  and  his  Saracens 
soon  fixed  my  attention  ;  and  some  instinct  of  criticism  directed 
me  to  the  genuine  sources.  Simon  Ockley,  an  original  in 
every  sense,  first  opened  my  eyes  ;  and  I  was  led  from  one 
book  to  another,  till  I  had  ranged  round  the  circle  of 
Oriental  history.  Before  I  was  sixteen,  I  had  exhausted  all 
that  could  be  learned  in  English  of  the  Arabs  and  Persians, 
the  Tartars  and  Turks  ;  and  the  same  ardour  urged  me  to 
guess  at  the  French  of  D'Herbelot,2  and  to  construe  the 
barbarous  Latin  of  Pocock's  Abulfaragius.  Such  vague  and 
multifarious  reading  could  not  teach  me  to  think,  to  write, 
or  to  act ;  and  the  only  principle  that  darted  a  ray  of  light 
into  the  indigested  chaos,  was  an  early  and  rational  appli- 
cation to  the  order  of  time  and  place.  The  maps  of  Cellarius 
and  Wells  imprinted  in  my  mind  the  picture  of  ancient 
geography  :  from  Strauchius  I  imbibed  the  elements  of  chron- 
ology :  the  Tables  of  Helvicus  and  Anderson,  the  Annals  of 
Usher  and  Prideaux  distinguished  the  connection  of  events, 
and  I  engraved  the  multitude  of  names  and  dates  in  a  clear 
and  indelible  series.  But  in  the  discussion  of  the  first  ages 
I  overleaped  the  bounds  of  modesty  and  use.  In  my  childish 
balance  I  presumed  to  weigh  the  systems  of  Scaliger  and 
Petavius,  of  Marsham  and  Newton,::  which   I   could   seldom 


1  [See  The  Decline,  iii.,  94.] 
2  {Post,  p.  63,  *.]  *[IHd.,  pp.  63,  129.] 


46  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1752 

study  in  the  originals ;  and  my  sleep  has  been  disturbed  by 
the  difficulty  of  reconciling  the  Septuagint  with  the  Hebrew 
computation.1  I  arrived  at  Oxford  with  a  stock  of  erudition, 
that  might  have  puzzled  a  doctor,2  and  a  degree  of  ignorance, 
of  which  a  schoolboy  would  have  been  ashamed. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  first  period  of  my  life,  I  am 
tempted  to  enter  a  protest  against  the  trite  and  lavish  praise 
of  the  happiness  of  our  boyish  years,  which  is  echoed  with 
so  much  affectation  in  the  world.3  That  happiness  I  have 
never  known,  that  time  I  have  never  regretted  ;  and  were 
my  poor  aunt  still  alive,  she  would  bear  testimony  to  the 
early    and    constant   uniformity    of  my    sentiments.     It    will 

!["The  primitive  church  of  Antioch  computed  almost  6000  years  from  the 
creation  of  the  world  to  the  birth  of  Christ.  Africanus,  Lactantius,  and  the 
Greek  Church  have  reduced  that  number  to  5500,  and  Eusebius  has  contented 
himself  with  5200  years.  These  calculations  were  formed  on  the  Septuagint, 
which  was  universally  received  during  the  six  first  centuries.  The  authority  of 
the  Vulgate  and  of  the  Hebrew  text  has  determined  the  Moderns,  Protestants 
as  well  as  Catholics,  to  prefer  a  period  of  about  4000  years  ;  though  in  the 
study  of  profane  antiquity  they  often  find  themselves  straitened  by  those  narrow 
limits  "  (The  Decline,  ii. ,  23).  "  I  regret  this  chronology  [Africanus's],  so  far 
preferable  to  our  double  and  perplexed  method  of  counting  backwards  and 
forwards  the  years  before  and  after  the  Christian  era  "  (ib.,  iv.,  269).] 

2 [See  Auto.,  p.  57,  for  Gibbon  in  his  boyhood,  "surrounded  with  a  heap 
of  folios".  Pattison  writes  of  F.  A.  Wolf's  entrance  at  Gottingen  in  1777: 
"  Since  Gibbon,  who  took  to  Magdalen  '  a  stock  of  learning  which  might  have 
puzzled  a  doctor,'  so  extraordinary  a  student  had,  perhaps,  never  entered  a 
university"  (Pattison's  Essays,  ed.  1889,  i.,  348).] 

3  ["  Dr.  Johnson  maintained  that  a  boy  at  school  was  the  happiest  of  human 
beings.  I  supported  a  different  opinion,  from  which  I  have  never  yet  varied, 
that  a  man  is  happier  ;  and  I  enlarged  upon  the  anxiety  and  sufferings  which 
are  endured  at  school.  Johnson.  'Ah!  Sir,  a  boy's  being  flogged  is  not  so 
severe  as  a  man's  having  the  hiss  of  the  world  against  him.  Men  have  a 
solicitude  about  fame ;  and  the  greater  share  they  have  of  it,  the  more  afraid 
they  are  of  losing  it  '  "  (Boswell's  Johnson,  i.,  451). 

Four  years  before  Johnson  said  this,  Adam  Smith  had  written  :  "  Compared 
with  the  contempt  of  mankind,  all  other  external  evils  are  easily  supported  " 
(Theory  of  Moral  Sentiments,  ed.  1801,  i. ,  119). 

Cowper  had  been  happier  than  Gibbon.  "  My  imagination,"  he  wrote, 
"  set  me  down  in  the  sixth  form  at  Westminster.  I  fancied  myself  once  more 
a  schoolboy,  a  period  of  life  in  which,  if  I  had  never  tasted  true  happiness,  I 
was  at  least  equally  unacquainted  with  its  contrary"  (Southey's  Cowper,  i. , 
15).     In  The  Task,  L,  116,  writing  of  his  schoolboy  days,  he  says  : — 

"  I  still  remember,  nor  without  regret 

Of  hours  that  sorrow  since  has  much  endear'd,"  etc. 

Sir  Walter  Scott,  who  had  been  at  the  same  school  as  Boswell,  sided  with 
Gibbon.  "Did  I  ever, "  he  wrote,  "pass  unhappy  years  anywhere?  None 
that  I  remember,  save  those  at  the  High  School,  which  I  thoroughly  detested 
on  account  of  the  confinement  "  (Lockhart's  Scott,  ed.  1839,  viii.,  368).] 


1752]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  47 

indeed  be  replied,  that  I  am  not  a  competent  judge  ;  that 
pleasure  is  incompatible  with  pain  ;  that  joy  is  excluded  from 
sickness  ;  and  that  the  felicity  of  a  schoolboy  consists  in  the 
perpetual  motion  of  thoughtless  and  playful  agility,  in  which 
I  was  never  qualified  to  excel.  My  name,  it  is  most  true, 
could  never  be  enrolled  among  the  sprightly  race,  the  idle 
progeny  of  Eton  or  Westminster, 

Who  foremost  may  [now]  delight  to  cleave, 
With  pliant  arm,  the  [thy]  glassy  wave, 
Or  urge  the  flying  ball.1 

The  poet  may  gaily  describe  the  short  hours  of  recreation  ;  but 
he  forgets  the  daily  tedious  labours  of  the  school,  which  is 
approached  each  morning  with  anxious  and  reluctant  steps.2 
A  traveller,  who  visits  Oxford  or  Cambridge,  is  surprised  and 
edified  by  the  apparent  order  and  tranquillity  that  prevail 
in  the  seats  of  the  English  muses.  In  the  most  celebrated 
universities  of  Holland,  Germany,  and  Italy,  the  students, 
who  swarm  from  different  countries,  are  loosely  dispersed  in 
private  lodgings  at  the  houses  of  the  burghers  :  they  dress 
according  to  their  fancy  and  fortune ;  and  in  the  intemperate 
quarrels  of  youth  and  wine,  their  .swords,  though  less  frequently 
than  of  old,  are  sometimes  stained  with  each  other's  blood. :J 
The  use  of  arms  is  banished  from  our  English  universities  ; 
the  uniform  habit  of  the  academics,  the  square  cap,  and  black 

1  [Gray's  Eton  College.] 

2  ["  Then  the  whining  schoolboy,  with  his  satchel, 
And  shining  morning  face,  creeping  like  snail 
Unwillingly  to  school." 

(As  You  Like  It,  Act  ii. ,  Sc.  7,  1.  145. )] 

3[C.  E.  Jordan  thus  wrote  of  Oxford  in  1733:  "  Je  logeai  a  Oxford  au 
Blow  Board  [?  Blue  Boar],  oil  on  est  fort  bien.  La  ville  est  petite,  et  il  y  a 
peu  de  belles  maisons.  Les  Colleges  y  sont  magnifiques.  Les  dehors  de  la 
ville  sont  tres  riants.  .  .  .  Le  nombre  des  e'tudiants  d'Oxford  va  a  2,000.  lis 
ne  portent  ni  baton,  ni  epee.  Tous  portent  la  robe  et  le  bonnet  quarre : 
l'habillement  differe  suivant  les  d£gr£s  et  la  quality.  Un  6tudiant  vit  fort 
agr6ablement  dans  un  College  :  il  est  bien  log6  et  nourri ;  et  sa  depense  monte 
(s'il  sait  ceconomiser)  par  rapport  a  l'entretien  a  100  pieces.  Tout  est  bien 
regie1  dans  cette  Academic  ou  plutot  University  ;  les  d^sordres  n'y  regnent  pas 
comme  dans  celles  d'Allemagne  "  (Hlstoire  a" un  Voyage  LiMraire,  ed.  1735, 
p.  174).  Jordan,  comparing  Leipsic  with  Halle,  says:  "  Les  manieres  y  sont 
plus  polies,  les  £tudians  ne  s'y  livrent  pas  a  une  debauche  aussi  crasse ;  ils  y 
sont  fort  galants,  ils  sacrifient  plus  a  Venus  qu'a  Bacchus"  (ib. ,  p.  9).] 


48  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1752 

gown,  is  adapted  to  the  civil  and  even  clerical  professions ; 
and  from  the  doctor  in  divinity  to  the  under-graduate,  the 
degrees  of  learning  and  age  are  externally  distinguished. 
Instead  of  being  scattered  in  a  town,  the  students  of  Oxford 
and  Cambridge  are  united  in  colleges  ;  their  maintenance  is 
provided  at  their  own  expense,  or  that  of  the  founders ;  and 
the  stated  hours  of  the  hall  and  chapel  represent  the  dis- 
cipline of  a  regular,  and,  as  it  were,  a  religious  community.1 
The  eyes  of  the  traveller  are  attracted  by  the  size  or  beauty  of 
the  public  edifices  ;  and  the  principal  colleges  appear  to  be  so 
many  palaces,  which  a  liberal  nation  has  erected  and  endowed 
for  the  habitation  of  science.  My  own  introduction  to  the  uni- 
versity of  Oxford  forms  a  new  aera  in  my  life ;  and  at  the  distance 
of  forty  years  I  still  remember  my  first  emo1^>ns  of  surprise  and 
satisfaction.  In  my  fifteenth  year  I  felt  myself  suddenly 
raised  from  a  boy  to  a  man  :  the  persons,  whom  I  respected 
as  my  superiors  in  age  and  academical  rank,  entertained  me 
with  every  mark  of  attention  and  civility  ;  and  my  vanity 
was  flattered  by  the  velvet  cap  and  silk  gown,  which  dis- 
tinguish a  gentleman  commoner 2  from  a  plebeian  student. 
A  decent  allowance,  more  money  than  a  schoolboy  had  ever 
seen,  was  at  my  own  disposal ;  and  I  might  command,  among 
the  tradesmen  of  Oxford,  an  indefinite  and  dangerous  latitude 
of  credit.  A  key  was  delivered  into  my  hands,  which  gave 
me  the  free  use  of  a  numerous  and  learned  library,  my  apart- 
ment consisted  of  three  elegant  and  well-furnished  rooms 
in   the  new  building,  a  stately   pile,   of  Magdalen   College, 


1  ["  Their  institutions,  although  somewhat  fallen  from  their  primaeval 
simplicity,  are  such  as  influence  in  a  particular  manner  the  moral  conduct  of 
their  youth  ;  and  in  this  general  depravity  of  manners  and  laxity  of  principles, 
pure  religion  is  nowhere  more  strictly  inculcated.  .  .  .  They  render  their 
students  virtuous,  at  least  by  excluding  all  opportunities  of  vice,  and  by  teaching 
them  the  principles  of  the  Church  of  England  confirm  them  in  those  of  true 
Christianity"  {The  Idler,  Dec.  2,  1758,  No.  33).] 

2  [Sainte-Beuve  describes  him  as  entering  "  en  qualite"  d'^tudiant  ordinaire  " 
(Causeries,  viii. ,  436). 

Mrs.  Delany  (Auto,  and  Corres.,  iii.,  583),  writing  in  1760  about  her  nephew 
going  to  Oxford,  says:  "I  hope  he  will  not  fall  into  any  vulgar  error,  now 
much  encouraged  at  Oxford,  that  '  peers  are  not  worth  being  acquainted 
with'  ".] 


17.52]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  49 

and  the  adjacent  walks,  had  they  been  frequented  by  Plato's 
disciples,  might  have  been  compared  to  the  Attic  shade  on 
the  banks  of  the  Ilissus.  Such  was  the  fair  prospect  of  my 
entrance  (April  3,  1752)  into  the  university  of  Oxford.1 

A  venerable  prelate,  whose  taste  and  erudition  must  reflect 
honour  on  the  society  in  which  they  were  formed,  has  drawn 
a  very  interesting  picture  of  his  academical  life.2      "  I  was 
educated  (says  Bishop  Lowth)  in  the  university  of  Oxford. 
I  enjoyed  all  the  advantages,  both  public  and  private,  which 
that  famous  seat  of  learning  so  largely  affords.     I  spent  many 
years  in  that  illustrious   society,  in   a   well-regulated  course 
of  useful  discipline  and  studies,  and  in  the  agreeable  and  im- 
proving commerce  of  gentlemen  and  of  scholars  ;  in  a  society 
where   emulation  without   envy,  ambition  without  jealousy, 
contention  without  animosity,  incited  industry,  and  awakened 
genius  ;  where  a  liberal  pursuit  of  knowledge,  and  a  genuine 
[generous]  freedom  of  thought,  was  raised,,  encouraged,  and 
pushed  forward  by  example,  by  commendation,  and  by  au- 
thority.    I  breathed  the  same  atmosphere  that  the  Hookers, 
the  Chillingworths,  and  the   Lockes  had  breathed  before ; 
whose  benevolence  and  humanity  were  as  extensive  as  their 
vast  genius  and  comprehensive  knowledge ;  who  always  treated 
their  adversaries  with  civility  and  respect ;  who  made  candour, 
moderation,  and  liberal  judgment  as  much  the  rule  and  law 
as  the  subject  of  their  discourse.   [.   .  .]   And  do  you  reproach 
me  with  my  education  in  this  place,  and  with  my  relation  to 
this  most  respectable  body,  which  I  shall  always  esteem  my 
greatest  advantage  and  my  highest  honour  ?  "  3     I  transcribe 
with  pleasure  this  eloquent  passage,  without  examining  what 
benefits  or  what  rewards  were  derived  by  Hooker,  or  Chilling- 
worth,  or  Locke,  from  their  academical  institution ;  without 
inquiring,   whether   in    this  angry   controversy  the   spirit   of 


1  [See  Appendix  9.] 

2  [In  A  Letter  to  tlie  Right  Reverend  Author  of  The  Divine  Legation,  etc. 
By  a  late  Professor  of  the  University  of  Oxford.  4th  ed.  London,  1766,  p.  64. 
The  first  edition  is  dated  Aug.  31,  1765.] 

3  [See  Appendix  10.] 

4 


50  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1758 

Lowth  himself  is  purified  from  the  intolerant  zeal,1  which 
Warburton  had  ascribed  to  the  genius  of  the  place.2  It  may 
indeed  be  observed,  that  the  atmosphere  of  Oxford  did  not 
agree  with  Mr.  Locke's  constitution  ;  and  that  the  philosopher 
justly  despised  the  academical  bigots,  who  expelled  his  person 
and  condemned  his  principles.3  The  expression  of  gratitude 
is  a  virtue  and  a  pleasure  :  a  liberal  mind  will  delight  to 
cherish  and  celebrate  the  memory  of  its  parents  ;  and  the 
teachers  of  science  are  the  parents  of  the  minds.  I  applaud 
the  filial  piety,  which  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  imitate  ; 
since  I  must  not  confess  an  imaginary  debt,  to  assume  the 
merit  of  a  just  or  generous  retribution.  To  the  university  of 
Oxford  /  acknowledge  no  obligation  ;  and  she  will  as  cheer- 
fully renounce  me  for  a  son,  as  I  am  willing  to  disclaim  her 
for  a  mother.  I  spent  fourteen  months  at  Magdalen  College  ; 
they  proved  the  fourteen  months  the  most  idle  and  unprofit- 
able of  my  whole  life  4 :  the  reader  will  pronounce  between 

1  ["  In  the  time  of  Job  the  crime  of  impiety  was  punished  by  the  Arabian 
magistrate  (c.  xiii. ,  vv.  26-8).  I  blush  for  a  respectable  prelate  (De  Poesi 
Hebr&orum,  pp.  650,  651,  edit.  Michaelis  ;  and  Letter  of  a  Late  Professor  in  the 
University  of  Oxford,  pp.  15,  53)  who  justifies  and  applauds  this  patriarchal 
inquisition  "  (  The  Decline,  v. ,  354  ;  see  also  Auto.,  p.  304).] 

2  [I  do  not  think  that  these  precise  words  are  used  by  Warburton.  Thomas 
Warton  uses  them  in  The  Idler,  No.  33,  where,  speaking  of  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge, he  says:  "There  is  at  least  one  very  powerful  incentive  to  learning; 
I  mean  the  Genius  of  the  place" .  Dryden  adjured  Oxford  "  by  the  sacred 
Genius  of  this  place  "  ( Works,  ed.  1885,  x.,  386).  Gibbon  says  of  Jerusalem  : 
"Sages  and  heroes  .  .  .  have  confessed  the  inspiration  of  the  genius  of  the 
place"  {The  Decline,  ii.,  455).] 

3  [See  Appendix  11.] 

4  ["  Bentham  spoke  of  the  university  with  asperity  to  the  end  of  his  days  " 
(Bentham's  Works,  x.,  39).  Southey,  who  entered  Balliol  College  in  1793,  wrote 
in  1807  :  "  Of  all  the  months  in  my  life  (happily  they  did  not  amount  to  years) 
those  which  were  passed  at  Oxford  were  the  most  unprofitable.  What  Greek 
I  took  there,  I  literally  left  there,  and  could  not  help  losing ;  and  all  I  learnt 
was  a  little  swimming  and  a  little  boating.  I  never  remember  to  have  dreamt 
of  Oxford — a  sure  proof  how  little  it  entered  into  my  moral  being  ; — of  school, 
on  the  contrary,  I  dream  perpetually"  (Southey's  Life  and  Corres.,  iii.,  85). 
When  he  was  at  College  he  wrote  :  "  With  respect  to  its  superiors,  Oxford  only 
exhibits  waste  of  wigs  and  want  of  wisdom  ;  with  respect  to  under-graduates, 
every  species  of  abandoned  excess.  .  .  .  Never  shall  child  of  mine  enter  a 
public  school  or  a  university"  (id.,  L,  177,  178).  "  It  is  curious,"  writes  Mr. 
Francis  Darwin,  "  that  my  father  often  spoke  of  his  Cambridge  life  as  if  it  had 
been  so  much  time  wasted,  forgetting  that  although  the  set  studies  of  the  place 
were  barren  enough  for  him,  he  yet  gained  in  the  highest  degree  the  best 
advantages  of  a  university  life — the  contact  with  men  and  an  opportunity  of 


1752]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  51 

the  school  and  the  scholar ;  but  I  cannot  affect  to  believe  that 
Nature  had  disqualified  me  for  all  literary  pursuits.  The 
specious  and  ready  excuse  of  ray  tender  age,  imperfect  pre- 
paration, and  hasty  departure,  may  doubtless  be  alleged ;  nor 
do  I  wish  to  defraud  such  excuses  of  their  proper  weight. 
Yet  in  my  sixteenth  year  I  was  not  devoid  of  capacity  or 
application  ;  even  my  childish  reading  had  displayed  an  early 
though  blind  propensity  for  books  ;  and  the  shallow  flood 
might  have  been  taught  to  flow  in  a  deep  channel  and  a  clear 
stream.  In  the  discipline  of  a  well-constituted  academy, 
under  the  guidance  of  skilful  and  vigilant  professors,  I  should 
gradually  have  risen  from  translations  to  originals,  from  the 
Latin  to  the  Greek  classics,  from  dead  languages  to  living 
science :  my  hours  would  have  been  occupied  by  useful 
and  agreeable  studies,  the  wanderings  of  fancy  would  have 
been  restrained,  and  I  should  have  escaped  the  temptations 
of  idleness,  which  finally  precipitated  my  departure  from 
Oxford.1 

Perhaps  in  a  separate  annotation  I  may  coolly  examine  the 
fabulous  and  real  antiquities  of  our  sister  universities,  a  ques- 
tion which  has  kindled  such  fierce  and  foolish  disputes  among 
their  fanatic  sons.2     In  the  meanwhile  it  will  be  acknowledged 

mental  growth."  He  wrote  to  Sir  J.  D.  Hooker  in  1847:  "  I  am  glad  you 
like  my  Alma  Mater,  which  I  despise  heartily  as  a  place  of  education,  but  love 
from  many  most  pleasant  recollections  "  {Life  of  Charles  Darwin,  ed.  1892, 
p.  105).] 

1  ["  No  discipline  is  ever  requisite  to  force  attendance  upon  lectures  which  are 
really  worth  the  attending,  as  is  well  known  wherever  any  such  lectures  are 
given  "  (  Wealth  of  Nations,  ed.  1811,  hi.,  172).] 

2  [Milton,  in  his  History  of  England,  mentions  the  reported  foundation  of 
Cambridge  by  Sigebert,  "King  of  East  Angles,  and  of  Oxford  by  Alfred 
(Milton's"  Works,  ed.  1806,  iv.,  134,  183).  Ayliffe,  in  The  Ancient  and  Present 
State  of  the  University  of  Oxford,  ed.  1723,  i. ,  9-13,  says  that  "the  traditions 
touching  the  commencement  of  these  two  Universities,  long  contending  with 
each  other  on  the  score  of  antiquity,  were  at  first  the  inventions  of  the  monks, 
receiving  their  education  in  these  respective  schools  of  learning,  and  were  after- 
wards imposed  on  the  world  for  the  sake  of  victory  ".  Oxford,  he  says, 
according  to  one  writer,  was  founded  by  some  "  excellent  philosophers,  with 
the  Trojans  coming  out  of  Greece  under  Brute  "  ;  whi!e  Cambridge  owed 
its  foundation  to  "  King  Cantaber,  a  Spaniard,  driven  out  of  his  own  country 
by  his  subjects,  375  years  B.C."  Ayliffe  himself  says  that  "  it  is  probable  that 
the  University  of  Oxford  was  founded  soon  after  this  kingdom  embraced  the 
Christian  religion  ".     Alfred  did  nothing  more  than  "restore  this  University 


52  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1752 

that  these  venerable  bodies  are  sufficiently  old  to  partake  of 
all  the  prejudices  and  infirmities  of  age.  The  schools  of 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  were  founded  in  a  dark  age  of  false 
and  barbarous  science  ;  and  they  are  still  tainted  with  the 
vices  of  their  origin.  Their  primitive  discipline  was  adapted 
to  the  education  of  priests  and  monks  ;  and  the  government 
still  remains  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy,  an  order  of  men 
whose  manners  are  remote  from  the  present  world,  and  whose 
eyes  are  dazzled  by  the  light  of  philosophy.1  The  legal 
incorporation  of  these  societies  by  the  charters  of  popes  2  and 
kings  had  given  them  a  monopoly  of  the  public  instruction ; 
and  the  spirit  of  monopolists  is  narrow,  lazy,  and  oppressive  ; 
their  work  is  more  costly  and  less  productive  than  that  of 
independent  artists  ;  and  the  new  improvements  so  eagerly 

to  its  pristine  glory.  .  .  .  King  Edward  the  Elder,  his  son,  restored  the  Uni- 
versity of  Cambridge,  confirming  to  the  Doctors  and  Scholars  there  all  their 
privileges." 

"  The  Divinity  Lectures  of  Robert  Pullein,"  wrote  Gibbon,  "  in  the  Abbey 
of  Oseney  (1129-1135)  I  consider  as  the  punctum  sa liens  of  the  University." 
He  quotes  a  passage  about  a  colony  of  monks  opening  public  schools  at 
Cambridge  in  1109,  but  adds  "curious  but  spurious"  [Misc.  Works,  v., 
522,  523).] 

1  ["  The  Gothic  arms  were  less  fatal  to  the  schools  of  Athens  than  the 
establishment  of  a  new  religion,  whose  ministers  superseded  the  exercise  of 
reason,  resolved  every  question  by  an  article  of  faith,  and  condemned  the 
infidel  or  sceptic  to  eternal  flames  "  (  The  Decline,  iv.,  265).  Gibbon,  writing 
of  "  Christian  Geography  "  in  the  sixth  century,  says  :  "  The  study  of  nature 
was  the  surest  symptom  of  an  unbelieving  mind  "  (id.,  iv. ,  234). 

' '  With  the  liberty  of  Europe  its  genius  awoke,  but  the  first  efforts  of  its 
growing  strength  were  consumed  in  vain  and  fruitless  pursuits.  .  .  .  The  two 
great  sources  of  knowledge,  nature  and  antiquity,  were  neglected.  .  .  .  The 
numerous  vermin  of  mendicant  friars,  Franciscans,  Dominicans,  Augustins, 
Carmelites,  who  swarmed  in  this  century  [the  thirteenth],  with  habits  and 
institutions  variously  ridiculous,  disgraced  religion,  learning,  and  common 
sense.  They  seized  on  scholastic  philosophy  as  a  science  peculiarly  suited  to 
their  minds  ;  and,  excepting  only  Friar  Bacon,  they  all  preferred  words  to 
things.  The  subtle,  the  profound,  the  irrefragable,  the  angelic,  and  the 
seraphic  Doctor  acquired  those  pompous  titles  by  filling  ponderous  volumes 
with  a  small  number  of  technical  terms,  and  a  much  smaller  number  of  ideas. 
Universities  arose  in  every  part  of  Europe,  and  thousands  of  students  employed 
their  lives  upon  these  grave  follies  "  (  Misc.    Works,  iii.,  19-29). 

' '  To  speak  freely,  it  were  much  better  there  were  not  one  divine  in  the 
universities,  no  school  divinity  known,  the  idle  sophistry  of  monks,  the  canker 
of  religion  "  (Milton's   Works,  iii.,  388).] 

2["  In  1459  the  University  [of  Basil]  was  founded  by  Pope  Pius  II.  (^Eneas 
Sylvius),  who  had  been  Secretary  to  the  Council  [of  Basil].  But  what  is  a 
Council  or  an  University  to  the  presses  of  Froben  and  the  studies  of 
Erasmus?"  (The  Decline,  vii.,  100.)] 


1752]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  53 

grasped  by  the  competition  of  freedom,  are  admitted  with 
slow  and  sullen  reluctance  in  those  proud  corporations,  above 
the  fear  of  a  rival,  and  below  the  confession  of  an  error.  We 
can  scarcely  hope  that  any  reformation  will  be  a  voluntary 
act ;  and  so  deeply  are  they  rooted  in  law  and  prejudice,  that 
even  the  omnipotence  of  parliament  would  shrink  from  an 
inquiry  into  the  state  and  abuses  of  the  two  universities.1 

The  use  of  academical  degrees,  as  old  as  the  thirteenth 
century,  is  visibly  borrowed  from  the  mechanic  corporations  ; 
in  which  an  apprentice,  after  serving  his  time,  obtains  a  testi- 
monial of  his  skill,  and  a  licence  to  practise  his  trade  and 
mystery.2  It  is  not  my  design  to  depreciate  those  honours, 
which  could  never  gratify  or  disappoint  my  ambition  ;  and  I 
should  applaud  the  institution,  if  the  degrees  of  bachelor  or 
licentiate  were  bestowed  as  the  reward  of  manly  and  success- 
ful study  :  if  the  name  and  rank  of  doctor  or  master  were 
strictly  reserved  for  the  professors  of  science,  Avho  have 
approved  their  title  to  the  public  esteem. 

In  all  the  universities  of  Europe,  excepting  our  own,  the 
languages  and  sciences  are  distributed  among  a  numerous  list 
of  effective  professors  :  the  students,  according  to  their  taste, 
their  calling,  and  their  diligence,  apply  themselves  to  the 
proper  masters  ;  and  in  the  annual  repetition  of  public  and 
private  lectures,  these  masters  are  assiduously  employed.3 
Our  curiosity  may  inquire  what  number  of  professors  has 
been  instituted  at  Oxford  ?  (for  I  shall  now  confine  myself 
to  my  own  university  ;)  by  whom  are  they  appointed,  and 
what  may  be  the  probable  chances  of  merit  or  incapacity  ; 
how  many  are  stationed  to  the  three  faculties,  and  how  many 
are  left  for  the  liberal  arts?  what  is  the  form,  and  what  the 

1  [It  was  not  till  1850  that  a  Royal  Commission  of  Inquiry  into  the  State  of 
the  Universities  was  appointed.  Its  report  was  issued  in  1852,  and  the  Act 
embodying  their  recommendations  was  passed  in  1854— one  hundred  and  one 
years  after  Gibbon  left  Oxford.  By  that  time  the  University  as  a  whole,  and 
most  of  the  Colleges,  as  "  a  voluntary  act,"  had  made  an  extensive  reforma- 
tion.] 

2  "  The  privileges  of  graduates  are  a  sort  of  statutes  of  apprenticeship  " 
{The  Wealth  of Nations,  iii.,  170).] 

*  [See  Appendix  12.] 


54  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1752 

substance,  of  their  lessons  ?  But  all  these  questions  are 
silenced  by  one  short  and  singular  answer,  "  That  in  the 
university  of  Oxford,  the  greater  part  of  the  public  professors 
have  for  these  many  years  given  up  altogether  even  the 
pretence  of  teaching".1  Incredible  as  the  fact  may  appear,  I 
must  rest  my  belief  on  the  positive  and  impartial  evidence  of 
a  master  of  moral  and  political  wisdom,  who  had  himself 
resided  at  Oxford.  Dr.  Adam  Smith  assigns  as  the  cause  of 
their  indolence,  that,  instead  of  being  paid  by  voluntary  con- 
tributions, which  would  urge  them  to  increase  the  number, 
and  to  deserve  the  gratitude  of  their  pupils,  the  Oxford 
professors  are  secure  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  fixed  stipend, 
without  the  necessity  of  labour,  or  the  apprehension  of  con- 
troul.2  It  has  indeed  been  observed,  nor  is  the  observation 
absurd,  that  excepting  in  experimental  sciences,  which 
demand  a  costly  apparatus  and  a  dexterous  hand,  the  many 
valuable  treatises,  that  have  been  published  on  every  subject 
of  learning,  may  now  supersede  the  ancient  mode  of  oral 
instruction.3  Were  this  principle  true  in  its  utmost  latitude, 
I  should  only  infer  that  the  offices  and  salaries,  which  are 
become  useless,  ought  Avithout  delay  to  be  abolished.     But 

1  [  (  Wealth  of  Nations,  iii. ,  168.)  Gibbon,  in  describing  the  schools  of  Athens, 
alludes  to  this  passage  :  "A  judicious  philosopher  prefers  the  free  contributions 
of  the  students  to  a  fixed  stipend  for  the  professor"  (The  Decline,  iv. ,  264). 
Adam  Smith  was  at  Balliol  College  without  a  break  from  1740  to  1746,  being 
supported  by  an  exhibition  from  the  University  of  Glasgow.  That  he  was 
benefited  by  his  residence  he  shows  in  his  letter  of  acknowledgment,  in  1787, 
on  his  being  chosen  Rector  of  that  university.  "  No  man,"  he  wrote,  "  can 
owe  greater  obligations  to  a  society  than  I  do  to  the  University  of  Glasgow. 
They  educated  me  ;  they  sent  me  to  Oxford  "  (Dugald  Stewart's  Life  of  Smith, 
ed.  1811,  p.  111).] 

^[Wealth  of  Nations,  iii.,  167.] 

3  [Gibbon,  no  doubt,  referred  to  Dr.  Johnson,  who,  "  talking  of  education, 
said  :  '  People  have  now-a-days  got  a  strange  opinion  that  everything  should 
be  taught  by  lectures.  Now,  I  cannot  see  that  lectures  can  do  so  much  good  as 
reading  the  books  from  which  the  lectures  are  taken.  I  know  nothing  that  can 
be  best  taught  by  lectures,  except  where  experiments  are  to  be  shown.  You 
may  teach  chymistry  by  lectures.— You  might  teach  making  of  shoes  by 
lectures'"  (Boswell's  Johnson,  ii.,  7). 

Charles  Darwin  says  of  the  two  sessions  he  studied  in  Edinburgh  University 
(1825-7)  :  "  The  instruction  was  altogether  by  lectures,  and  these  were  intoler- 
ably dull,  with  the  exception  of  those  on  chemistry  by  Hope  ;  but  to  my  mind 
there  are  no  advantages  and  many  disadvantages  in  lectures  compared  with 
reading  "  (Life  of  C.  Darwin,  ed.  1892,  p.  11).] 


1752]  MEMOIKS  OF  MY  LIFE  55 

there  still  remains  a  material  difference  between  a  book  and 
a  professor  ;  the  hour  of  the  lecture  enforces  attendance  ; 
attention  is  fixed  by  the  presence,  the  voice,  and  the  occa- 
sional questions  of  the  teacher  ;  the  most  idle  will  carry 
something  away  ;  and  the  more  diligent  will  compare  the 
instructions,  which  they  have  heard  in  the  school,  with  the 
volumes,  which  they  peruse  in  their  chamber.  The  advice  of 
a  skilful  professor  will  adapt  a  course  of  reading  to  every 
mind  and  every  situation  ;  his  authority  will  discover,  ad- 
monish, and  at  last  chastise  the  negligence  of  his  disciples ; 
and  his  vigilant  inquiries  will  ascertain  the  steps  of  their 
literary  progress.  Whatever  science  he  professes  he  may 
illustrate  in  a  series  of  discourses,  composed  in  the  leisure 
of  his  closet,  pronounced  on  public  occasions,  and  finally 
delivered  to  the  press.  I  observe  with  pleasure,  that  in  the 
university  of  Oxford  Dr.  Lowth,  with  equal  eloquence  and 
erudition,  has  executed  this  task  in  his  incomparable  Preelec- 
tions on  the  Poetry  of  the  Hebrews.1 

The  college  of  St.  Mary  Magdalen  was  founded  in  the 
fifteenth  century  by  Wainfleet,  bishop  of  Winchester  ;  and 
now  consists  of  a  president,  forty  fellows,  and  a  number  of 
inferior  students.2     It  is  esteemed  one  of  the  largest  and  most 


1  ["  All  Scotland  (said  Johnson)  could  not  muster  learning  enough  for 
Lowth's  "  Preelections"  (Johnsonian  Misc.,  ii.,  48). 

Lowth  was  Professor  of  Poetry  from  1741  to  1751.  His  Prcelectiones  De 
Sacra  Poesi  Hcbrccorum  is  advertised  in  The  Gent.  Mag.  for  March,  1753. 
"  It  was  the  first  sign  of  the  awakening  of  Oxford  from  that  torpor  under 
which  two  generations  had  now  lain,  under  the  besotting  influence  of  Jacobite 
and  high-church  politics.  The  Lectures,  De  Sacra  Poesi  Hebrceortcm,  seemed 
to  combine  the  polish  of  a  past  generation,  long  gone,  w:ith  the  learning  of  a 
new  period  to  come.  The  lore  of  Michaelis  was  here  dressed  out  in  Latin  as 
classical  as,  and  more  vigorous  than,  that  of  Addison.  .  .  .  Lowth's  audience, 
though  no  judges  of  Hebrew,  were  connoisseurs  in  Latin  ;  and  these  lectures, 
interspersed  with  frequent  passages  of  tasteful  Latin  translation,  were  delivered 
to  thronging  crowds,  such  as  professional  lecture  rooms  had  long  ceased  to 
hold.  In  the  ten  years  of  Lowth's  tenure  of  the  chair  he  could  boast  that 
the  study  of  Hebrew,  which  had  been  almost  extinct,  '  nimium  diu  neglectam 
et  pasne  obsoletam,'  had  been  rekindled  by  his  exertions  "  (Pattison's  Essays, 
ed.  1889,  ii.,  135-6).] 

2  [There  were,  and  still  are,  thirty  students  on  the  foundation,  called  Demies 
(the  second  syllable  is  accentuated).  They  were  "so  called  because  their 
allowance  or  '  commons '  was  originally  half  that  of  a  Fellow  ;  the  Latin  term 
is  semi-communarius  "  (The  New  Eng.  Did.).] 


56  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1752 

wealthy  of  our  academical  corporations,  which  may  be  com- 
pared to  the  Benedictine  abbeys  of  Catholic  countries  ;  and  I 
have  loosely  heard  that  the  estates  belonging  to  Magdalen 
College,  which  are  leased  by  those  indulgent  landlords  at 
small  quit-rents  and  occasional  fines,1  might  be  raised,  in  the 
hands  of  private  avarice,  to  an  annual  revenue  of  nearly  thirty 
thousand  pounds.'-  Our  colleges  are  supposed  to  be  schools 
of  science  as  well  as  of  education ;  nor  is  it  unreasonable  to 
expect  that  a  body  of  literary  men,  devoted  to  a  life  of  celibacy, 
exempt  from  the  care  of  their  own  subsistence,  and  amply 
provided  with  books,  should  devote  their  leisure  to  the  pro- 
secution of  study,  and  that  some  effects  of  their  studies  should 
be  manifested  to  the  world.  The  shelves  of  their  library 
groan  under  the  weight  of  the  Benedictine  folios,  of  the 
editions  of  the  fathers,  and  the  collections  of  the  middle  ages, 
which  have  issued  from  the  single  abbey  of  St.  Germain  de 
Prez  at  Paris.3    A  composition  of  genius  must  be  the  offspring 


1  ["  Some  landlords,  instead  of  raising  the  rent,  take  a  fine  for  the  renewal  of 
the  lease.  This  practice  is  in  most  cases  the  expedient  of  a  spendthrift,  who, 
for  a  sum  of  ready  money,  sells  a  future  revenue  of  much  greater  value.  It  is  in 
most  cases,  therefore,  hurtful  to  the  landlord.  It  is  frequently  hurtful  to  the 
tenant,  and  it  is  always  hurtful  to  the  community  "  (  Wealth  of  Nations,  iii.,  268).] 

2["  In  the  days  of  James  the  Second  the  riches  of  Magdalen  were  immense, 
and  were  exaggerated  by  report.  The  college  was  popularly  said  to  be  wealthier 
than  the  wealthiest  abbeys  of  the  Continent.  When  the  leases  fell  in, — so  ran 
the  vulgar  rumour, — the  rents  would  be  raised  to  the  prodigious  sum  of  forty 
thousand  pounds  a  year"  (Macaulay's  England,  ed.  1873,  iii.,  19).] 

3  [Gibbon,  writing  of  the  end  of  the  tenth  century,  says  :  "  While  the  Mus- 
sulmans .  .  .  preserved  the  light  of  science,  Europe  sunk  still  deeper  into 
ignorance,  barbarism  and  superstition.  The  Benedictine  abbeys,  though  they 
nursed  the  last  of  these  monsters,  opposed  some  faint  resistance  against  the  two 
former.  They  transcribed  ancient  books,"  etc.  {Misc.  Works,  iii.,  8).  In  the 
last  year  of  his  life  he  acknowledged  the  merits  of  "  the  Monkish  Historians, 
as  they  are  contemptuously  styled.  Our  candour,"  he  adds,  "and  even  our 
justice,  should  learn  to  estimate  their  value  and  to  excuse  their  imperfections  " 
(id.,  p.  561). 

When  Bentley  was  editing  the  New  Testament  he  sent  a  Fellow  of  his  college 
to  Paris,  in  1719,  to  collate  manuscripts.  "The  Benedictines,"  writes  Bentley's 
biographer,  "besides  communicating  all  their  own  manuscripts,  and  using  their 
interest  in  procuring  collations  from  their  brethren  of  Angers,  accommodated 
him  with  a  room  and  fire  in  their  monastery  of  St.  Germain  des  Pres  for  his 
work,  and  several  of  them  gave  him  assistance  in  the  labour  of  collation" 
(Monk's  Bentley,  ii.,  122). 

Jordan  wrote  of  the  Abbey  in  1733  :  "  Tout  y  respire  la  science  et  la  poli- 
tesse  "  (  Voyage  I.ittiraire  fait  en  1733,  p.  78).  For  the  kindness  of  the  English 
Benedictines  to  Johnson  see  Boswell's  Johnson,  ii.,  402.] 


1752]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  57 

of  one  mind ;  but  such  works  of  industry  as  may  be  divided 
among  many  hands,  and  must  be  continued  during  many  years, 
are  the  peculiar  province  of  a  laborious  community.  If  1 
inquire  into  the  manufactures  of  the  monks l  of  Magdalen, 
if  I  extend  the  inquiry  to  the  other  colleges  of  Oxford  and 
Cambridge,2  a  silent  blush,  or  a  scornful  frown,  will  be  the 
only  reply.  The  fellows  or  monks  of  my  time  were  decent 
easy  men,  who  supinely  enjoyed  the  gifts  of  the  founder;  their 
days  were  filled  by  a  series  of  uniform  employments  ;  the 
chapel  and  the  hall,  the  coffee-house  and  the  common  room, 
till  they  retired,  weary  and  well  satisfied,  to  a  long  slumber. 
From  the  toil  of  reading,  or  thinking,  or  writing,  they  had 
absolved  their  conscience  ;  and  the  first  shoots  of  learning  and 
ingenuity  withered  on  the  ground,  without  yielding  any  fruits 
to  the  owners  or  the  public.3  As  a  gentleman  commoner,  I 
was  admitted  to  the  society  of  the  fellows,  and  fondly  expected 

1  [The  scornfulness  of  the  epithet  is  only  fully  understood  by  reading  Gibbon's 
account  of  the  monks  in  The  Decline.  "These  unhappy  exiles  from  social 
life,"  he  writes,  "  were  impelled  by  the  dark  and  implacable  genius  of  super- 
stition. .  .  .  The  freedom  of  the  mind,  the  source  of  every  generous  and 
rational  sentiment,  was  destroyed  by  the  habits  of  credulity  and  submission, 
and  the  monk,  contracting  the  vices  of  a  slave,  devoutly  followed  the  faith 
and  passions  of  his  ecclesiastical  tyrant.  .  .  .  Pleasure  and  guilt  are 
synonymous  terms  in  the  language  of  the  monks.  .  .  .  The  monastic  studies 
have  tended  for  the  most  part  to  darken  rather  than  to  dispel  the  cloud 
of  superstition.  ...  A  cruel,  unfeeling  temper  has  distinguished  the  monks 
of  every  age  and  country.  .  .  .  The  sacred  indolence  of  the  monks  was 
devoutly  embraced  by  a  servile  and  effeminate  age.  .  .  .  Europe  was  overrun 
by  the  Barbarians,  and  Asia  by  the  monks  "  ( The  Decline,  iv. ,  62,  66,  67,  69, 
74,  163,  235).  In  an  earlier  passage  he  says  that  "no  church  has  been 
dedicated,  no  altar  has  been  erected,  to  the  only  monk  who  died  a  martyr  in 
the  cause  of  humanity"  (il>. ,  iii. ,  258).  Of  Athanasius  he  says:  "As  he  was 
writing  to  monks,  there  could  not  be  any  occasion  for  him  to  affect  a  rational 
language"  (id.,  ii.,  340).] 

2  [Parr  entered  Emmanuel  College  in  1765.  ' '  The  unreserved  conversation 
of  scholars,"  he  writes,  "  the  disinterested  offices  of  friendship,  the  use  of  valu- 
able books,  and  the  example  of  good  men,  are  endearments  by  which  Cambridge 
will  keep  a  strong  hold  upon  my  esteem,  my  respect,  and  my  gratitude,  to  the 
latest  moment  of  my  life.  Never  shall  I  have  the  presumption  '  to  disclaim  her 
as  a  mother,'  and  never  may  she  have  just  occasion  'to  renounce  me  as  a  son'  " 
(Parr's  Works,  ii.,  566.     See  also  id.,  p.  564,  for  the  diligence  of  the  students). 

Pitt,  who  entered  Cambridge  in  1773,  besides  studying  mathematics,  read 
with  his  tutor  all  the  works  of  almost  every  Greek  or  Latin  writer  of  any 
eminence  (Stanhope's  Pitt,  L,  15).  Gray,  who  entered  in  1734,  "always  dis- 
liked and  ridiculed  the  system  of  education  at  Cambridge"  (Mitford's  Gray's 
Works,  i.,  Preface,  p.  22.  See  also  ib.,  i.,  140,  for  his  "  Hymn  to  Ignorance").] 
J  [See  Appendix  13.] 


58  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1752 

that  some  questions  of  literature  would  be  the  amusing  and 
instructive  topics  of  their  discourse.  Their  conversation  stag- 
nated in  a  round  of  college  business,  Tory  politics,  personal 
anecdotes,  and  private  scandal : l  their  dull  and  deep  potations 
excused  the  brisk  intemperance  of  youth ;  and  their  consti- 
tutional toasts  were  not  expressive  of  the  most  lively  loyalty 
for  the  house  of  Hanover.2  A  general  election  was  now 
approaching :  the  great  Oxfordshire  contest  already  blazed 
with  all  the  malevolence  of  party  zeal.  Magdalen  College 
was  devoutly  attached  to  the  old  interest !  and  the  names  of 
Wenman  and  Dashwood  were  more  frequently  pronounced 
than  those  of  Cicero  and  Chrysostom.3  The  example  of  the 
senior  fellows  could  not  inspire  the  under-graduates  with  a 
liberal  spirit  or  studious  emulation  ;  and  I  cannot  describe,  as 
I  never  knew,  the  discipline  of  college.  Some  duties  may 
possibly  have  been  imposed  on  the  poor  scholars,  whose  ambi- 
tion aspired  to  the  peaceful  honours  of  a  fellowship  (a.scribi 

1  [Dr.  Bloxam  records  an  anecdote,  too  gross  to  quote,  of  an  act  of  public 
indecency  committed  by  Richard  Jackson,  Doctor  of  Divinity,  who  became 
Fellow  of  Magdalen  in  1744  {Register  of  the  Presidents,  etc.,  of  Magdalen  College, 
vi.,  204). 

Three  days  after  Gibbon  entered  Oxford  the  "unfortunate"  Miss  Blandy 
was  hanged  on  the  Castle  Green  for  murdering  her  father.  There  were  5,000 
spectators,  "many  of  whom,  and  particularly  several  gentlemen  of  the  Univer- 
sity, shed  tears"  (Gent.  Mag.,  1752,  p.  188).  There  was  no  lack  that  day  of  a 
subject  for  talk  in  the  Common  Room.] 

2  [Lord  Hervey  (Memoirs,  i. ,  205)  records  that  in  1733,  on  the  dropping  of 
the  Excise  Bill,  "  for  three  nights  together,  round  the  bonfires  made  at  Oxford, 
the  healths  of  Ormond,  Bolingbroke  and  James  III.,  were  publicly  drank".] 

3 ["Oxford.  May  31,  1754. — On  Monday  last  the  gentlemen  of  the  new 
interest  finished  their  objections  to  the  voters  for  Lord  Wenman  and  Sir  James 
Dashwood  ;  after  which  the  gentlemen  of  the  old  interest  proceeded  to  examine 
evidence  for  requalifying  the  votes  objected  to,  and  continued  their  examination 
till  Thursday  at  noon.  But  the  writ  being  returnable  next  morning,  the  High 
Sheriff  declared  that  as  the  time  limited  would  not  permit  him  to  go  through 
the  whole  scrutiny,  he  found  himself  obliged  to  return  all  the  four  candidates, 
and  leave  the  determination  to  the  House  of  Commons.  By  the  care  taken  to 
preserve  the  peace,  notwithstanding  the  great  concourse  of  people,  no  remark- 
able disturbance  happened  till  Thursday  afternoon,  when  the  gentlemen  of  the 
new  interest  set  out  in  a  grand  cavalcade  with  streamers  flying,  etc.,  down  the 
High  Street.  Upon  Magdalen  Bridge,  some  dirt  and  stones  being  thrown  by 
the  populace  of  the  other  party,  a  pistol  was  rashly  discharged,  as  it  is  said, 
out  of  a  post-chaise,  and  a  chimney-sweeper's  boy  had  his  skull  fractured  by 
the  ball  "  (Gent.  Mag.,  1754,  p.  289). 

See  Colman's  Connoisseur,  No.  xi.,  dated  April  n,  1754,  for  a  dispute 
between  two  "  academical  rakes"  in  a  Covent  Garden  tavern  over  the  old  and 
new  interest.] 


1752]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  59 

(jinetis  ordimbus  .  .  .  Dcorum)  ; 1  but  no  independent  members 
were  admitted  below  the  rank  of  a  gentleman  commoner,  and 
our  velvet  cap  was  the  cap  of  liberty.  A  tradition  prevailed 
that  some  of  our  predecessors  had  spoken  Latin  declamations 
in  the  hall,2  but  of  this  ancient  custom  no  vestige  remained  : 
the  obvious  methods  of  public  exercises  and  examinations  were 
totally  unknown  ; 3  and  I  have  never  heard  that  either  the 
president  or  the  society  interfered  in  the  private  economy  of 
the  tutors  and  their  pupils. 

The  silence  of  the  Oxford  professors,  which  deprives  the 
youth  of  public  instruction,  is  imperfectly  supplied  by  the 
tutors,  as  they  are  styled,  of  the  several  colleges.  Instead  of 
confining  themselves  to  a  single  science,  which  had  satisfied 
the    ambition    of    Burman,4    or    Bernoulli,5    they    teach,    or 

1  ["  Ranked  among  the  tranquil  powers  divine." 

(Francis'  Horace,  Odes,  iii.,  3,  35.) 
"The    more  I  see    of  the  Foundation    [of  Queen's  College]   the   more   I 
felicitate  myself  that  I  did  not  enter  upon  it.     I  could  not  bear  to  be  so  brow- 
beaten "  {Letters  of  Radcliffe  and  James,  p.  56).] 

2  [See  Appendix  14.] 

3 [James  mentions  in  1781,  "a  person  of  Merton  College,  who,  being  to 
take  orders  on  Sunday  last,  was  under  absolute  necessity  of  having  his  degree. 
Trifling  and  farcical  as  these  things  are  known  to  be,  I  never  saw  a  man  under 
more  apprehensions,  or  with  greater  reason,  for  he  protested  to  us  with  vehemence 
that  he  had  not  looked  in  any  Latin  or  Greek  book  since  his  matriculation  ;  and 
as  for  the  sciences,  he  was  hardly  acquainted  with  their  names.  Yet  he  escaped, 
and  was  rewarded  by  a  certificate  signed  by  three  Masters,  setting  forth— ay, 
here  it  is — that  Cattel  of  Merton  College,  'in  singulis  artibus  seu  scientiis,  quas 
et  quatenus  per  statuta  audivisse  tenetur,  laudabiles  progressus  et  pares  ei  gradui, 
quem  ambit,  fecisse ;  ac  speciatim  in  rebus  quotidiani  usus  animi  sui  sensa 
lingua  Latina  explicandi  ea.  facultate  pollere  quam  statuta  requirunt '  "  {Letters 
of  Radcliffe  and  James,  p.  160).] 

4  [Burman  is  an  unfortunate  instance.  "In  the  University  of  Utrecht, 
Burman,  in  1696,  was  chosen  Professor  of  Eloquence  and  History,  to  which 
was  added,  after  some  time,  the  professorship  of  the  Greek  Language,  and 
afterwards  that  of  Politics. ' '  Vacating  these  offices  he  accepted  the  professor- 
ships of  History,  Eloquence  and  the  Greek  Language  at  Leyden.  He  was 
twice  Rector  of  the  University.  "When  the  professorship  of  History  of  the 
United  Provinces  became  vacant,  it  was  conferred  on  him,  as  an  addition  to 
his  honours  and  revenues  which  he  might  justly  claim  ;  and  afterwards  they 
made  him  Chief  Librarian  "  (Johnson's  Works,  vi.,  401-403).] 

5 ["The  Bernoullis  and  Euler  made  Basel  famous  as  the  cradle  of  great 
mathematicians.  The  family  of  Bernoullis  furnished  in  the  course  of  a  century 
eight  members  who  distinguished  themselves  in  mathematics.  The  first  was 
born  in  1654  ;  the  last  died  in  1807  "  (Cajori's  Hist,  of  Math.,  1894,  p.  236). 

Voltaire  writes  in  his  Siecle  de  Louis  XIV.,  ch.  31  :  "  Les  idees  supersti- 
tieuses  t^taient  tellement  enracin^es  chez  les  hommes,  que  les  cometes  les 
effrayaient  encore  en  1680.     On  osait  a  peine  combattre  cette  crainte  populaire. 


60  EDWARD  GIBBON  [i75« 

promise  to  teach,  either  history  or  mathematics,  or  ancient 
literature,  or  moral  philosophy ;  and  as  it  is  possible  that 
they  may  be  defective  in  all,  it  is  highly  probable  that  of 
some  they  will  be  ignorant.  They  are  paid,  indeed,  by 
voluntary  contributions  ;  but  their  appointment  depends  on 
the  head  of  the  house  :  their  diligence  is  voluntary,  and  will 
consequently  be  languid,  while  the  pupils  themselves,  or  their 
parents,  are  not  indulged  in  the  liberty  of  choice  or  change. 
The  first  tutor  into  whose  hands  I  was  resigned  appears  to 
have  been  one  of  the  best  of  the  tribe  :  Dr.  Waldegrave  was 
a  learned  and  pious  man,  of  a  mild  disposition,  strict  morals 
and  abstemious  life,  who  seldom  mingled  in  the  politics  or 
the  jollity  of  the  college.  But  his  knowledge  of  the  world 
was  confined  to  the  university ;  his  learning  was  of  the  last, 
rather  than  the  present  age  ;  his  temper  was  indolent ;  his 
faculties,  which  were  not  of  the  first  rate,  had  been  relaxed 
by  the  climate,  and  he  was  satisfied,  like  his  fellows,  with  the 
slight  and  superficial  discharge  of  an  important  trust.  As 
soon  as  my  tutor  had  sounded  the  insufficiency  of  his  pupil 
in  school-learning,  he  proposed  that  we  should  read  every 
morning  from  ten  to  eleven  the  comedies  of  Terence.1  The 
sum  of  my  impi'ovement  in  the  university  of  Oxford  is 
confined  to  three  or  four  Latin  plays  ;  and  even  the  study 
of  an  elegant  classic,  which  might  have  been  illustrated  by 
a  comparison  of  ancient  and  modern  theatres,  was  reduced 
to  a  dry  and  literal  interpretation  of  the  author's  text. 
During  the  first  weeks  I  constantly  attended  these  lessons 
in  my  tutor's  room  ;  but  as  they  appeared  equally  devoid 
of  profit  and  pleasure  I  was  once  tempted  to  try  the  experi- 
ment of  a  formal  apology.  The  apology  was  accepted  with 
a  smile.  I  repeated  the  offence  with  less  ceremony  ;  the 
excuse  was  admitted  with  the  same  indulgence  :  the  slightest 

Jacques  Bernouilli,  l'un  des  grands  matht^maticiens  de  l'Europe,  en  repondant 
a  propos  de  cette  comete  aux  partisans  du  prejuge,  dit  que  la  chevelure  de  la 
comete  ne  peut  etre  un  signe  de  la  colere  divine,  parce  que  cette  chevelure  est 
dternelle  ;  mais  que  la  queue  pourrait  en  etre  un. "] 

1  [Hurdis  in  his   Vindication  (p.  24)  admits  that  "the  attendance  of  young 
men  upon  their  tutors  continues  for  an  hour  only  in  every  day  ".] 


1752]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  61 

motive  of  laziness  or  indisposition,  the  most  trifling  avocation 
at  home  or  abroad,  was  allowed  as  a  worthy  impediment  ; 
nor  did  my  tutor  appear  conscious  of  my  absence  or  neglect.1 
Had  the  hour  of  lecture  been  constantly  filled,  a  single  hour 
was  a  small  portion  of  my  academic  leisure.  No  plan  of 
study  was  recommended  for  my  use  ;  no  exercises  were  pre- 
scribed for  his  inspection  ;  and,  at  the  most  precious  season 
of  youth,  whole  days  and  weeks  were  suffered  to  elapse 
without  labour  or  amusement,  without  advice  or  account.  I 
should  have  listened  to  the  voice  of  reason  and  of  my  tutor  ; 
his  mild  behaviour  had  gained  my  confidence.  I  preferred 
his  society  to  that  of  the  younger  students 2  ;  and  in  our 
evening  walks  to  the  top  of  Heddington  Hill,3  we  freely 
conversed  on  a  variety  of  subjects.  Since  the  days  of  Pocock 
and  Hyde,   Oriental  learning  has  always  been  the  pride  of 

1  [Pattison,  in  his  article  on  F.  A.  Wolf  [Essays,  i.,  342),  excuses  Gibbon's 
tutors.  "  Wolf's  masters,"  he  writes,  "  connived  at  his  absence,  judging,  like 
Gibbon's  Magdalen  tutors,  that  his  time  would  be  better  employed  elsewhere." 

The  late  Rev.  C.  W.  Boase,  Fellow  of  Exeter  College,  Oxford,  and  Univer- 
sity Reader  in  Foreign  History,  a  man  full  of  learning  and  full  of  kindliness, 
told  me  that  Edward  Burne-Jones  and  William  Morris,  both  members  of  his 
College,  had  been  his  pupils.  They  were  by  no  means  regular  in  attending 
his  lectures,  but  he  let  them  go  their  own  ways,  as  he  saw  that  they  knew  how 
to  teach  themselves  much  better  than  he  could  have  done  it  for  them.] 

2  ["  Mr.  Finden,  an  ancient  Fellow  of  the  College,  and  a  contemporary  of 
Gibbon,  told  me  (wrote  Dr.  Routh)  that  his  superior  abilities  were  known  to 
many,  but  that  the  gentlemen-commoners  were  disposed  to  laugh  at  his  peculi- 
arities ;  and  were  once  informed  by  Finden  that  if  their  heads  were  entirely 
scooped,  Gibbon  had  brains  sufficient  to  supply  them  all"  (The  Decline, 
ed.  Milman,  1854,   i.,  32). 

Parr  describes  Gibbon  as  entering  college  "  with  a  weakly  frame  of  body, 
with  a  coldness  of  temperament,  which  made  him  stand  aloof  from  the  gaiety 
of  companions,  and  from  the  generous  sympathy  of  friends"  (Parr's  Works, 
ii.,  582).  Gibbon  speaks  of  his  "awkward  timidity"  in  his  youth  (post, 
p.  86).] 

3[Hearne  recorded  on  Feb.  22,  1723-4:  "Upon  the  top  of  Heddington 
Hill,  on  the  left  hand  as  we  go  to  Heddington,  just  at  the  brow  of  the  branch 
of  the  Roman  way  that  falls  down  upon  Marston  Lane,  is  an  elm,  that  is 
commonly  known  by  the  name  of  Jo.  Pullen's  tree,  it  having  been  planted  by 
the  care  of  the  late  Mr.  Josiah  Pullen  of  Magdalen  Hall,  who  used  to  walk 
to  that  place  every  day,  sometimes  twice  a  day,  if  tolerable  weather,  from 
Magdalen  Hall  and  back  again  in  the  space  of  half  an  hour  "  (Hearne's 
Remains,  ii.,  194).  Dr.  Bliss  says  in  a  note  on  ii. ,  238  :  "  This  tree,  mutilated 
though  it  be,  is  still  (1856)  standing,  and  may  in  every  sense  be  deemed  univer- 
sity property.  First,  from  the  associations  belonging  to  it,  and  the  numerous 
visitants  of  early  days,  as  well  as  of  modern  times,  who  have  made  it  their 
almost  daily  boundary  of  exercise."  Nothing  is  now  left  of  it  but  the  lower 
part  of  the  dead  trunk.] 


62  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1752 

Oxford,  and  I  once  expressed  an  inclination  to  study  Arabic.1 
His  prudence  discouraged  this  childish  fancy  ;  but  he  neglected 
the  fair  occasion  of  directing  the  ardour  of  a  curious  mind. 
During  my  absence  in  the  summer  vacation,  Dr.  Waldegrave 
accepted  a  college  living  at  Washington  in  Sussex,  and  on 
my  return  I  no  longer  found  him  at  Oxford.2  From  that 
time  I  have  lost  sight  of  my  first  tutor ;  but  at  the  end  of 
thirty  years  (1781)  he  was  still  alive  ;  and  the  practice  of 
exercise  and  temperance  had  entitled  him  to  a  healthy  old 
age. 

The  long  recess  between  the  Trinity  and  Michaelmas  terms 
empties  the  colleges  of  Oxford,  as  well  as  the  courts  of 
Westminster.^     I  spent,  at   my  father's  house  at  Buriton  in 


1  [Edward  Pocock  (ante,  p.  33)  was  Professor  of  Arabic  from  1636  to  1691, 
when  he  was  succeeded  by  Thomas  Hyde,  who  held  the  office  till  1702. 
Hearne  recorded  on  April  26,  1706,  that  "  Dr.  Hyde's  books  are  mightily 
bought  up  in  Holland,  and  other  parts  of  Germany,  where  they  have  a  great 
opinion  of  his  learning,  especially  in  Orientals  (in  which  there  is  no  doubt  he 
was  the  greatest  master  in  Europe),  though  he  was  disrespected  in  Oxford  by 
several  men,  who  now  speak  well  of  him  "  (Hearne's  Remains,  i.,  104). 

Jones,  who  entered  Oxford  in  1764,  began  to  study  Arabic  under  the 
encouragement  of  a  fellow  student.  He  prevailed  on  a  native  of  Aleppo  to 
come  to  Oxford  from  London  and  give  him  lessons  (Teignmouth's  Life  of  Sir 
IV.  Jones,  p.  40).] 

2[Southey  wrote  of  his  old  tutor:  "I  believe  he  led  but  a  melancholy  life 
after  he  left  college  ;  without  neighbours,  without  a  family,  without  a  pursuit, 
he  must  have  felt  dismally  the  want  of  his  old  routine,  and  sorely  have  missed 
his  pupils,  the  chapel  bells,  and  the  Common  Room.  A  monk  is  much  happier 
than  an  old  fellow  of  a  college  who  retires  to  reside  upon  a  country  living" 
(Southey's  Life  and  Corres.,  iv. ,  343). 

Dr.  Waldegrave,  six  years  after  he  left  Magdalen,  wrote  to  Gibbon  :  "  It 
will  give  me  great  pleasure  to  see  you  at  Washington  ;  where  I  am,  I  thank 
God,  very  well  and  very  happy  "  (Misc.  Works,  ii. ,  37).] 

3  [Only  a  quarter  of  a  century  earlier  there  were  many  students  in  residence 
all  the  year  round  (Boswell's  Johnson,  i. ,  63,  n.  i. ).  Johnson,  who  was  absent 
from  college  but  one  week  in  the  long  vacation  of  1729,  wrote  of  Oxford  on 
August  1,  1775:  "  The  place  is  now  a  sullen  solitude"  (id.,  i.,  63;  Johnson's 
Letters,  i. ,  361). 

' '  Adam  Smith  resided  uninterruptedly  in  Oxford  from  July  7, 1740,  to  August 
15,  1746,  as  the  Buttery  Books  of  Balliol  College  show  "  (  Wealth  of  Nations, 
ed.  J.  E.  T.  Rogers,  1869,  vol.  i. ,  Preface,  p.  7). 

James  wrote  from  Queen's  College  on  July  30,  1779  :  "  My  staircase  is  from 
the  noisiest  become  one  of  the  most  peaceful  of  any  in  college.  I  am  able  to 
unravel  the  perplexities  of  a  Greek  paragraph  without  being  disturbed  by  a 
heavy  foot  or  a  caper  over  my  head."  On  Oct.  7  he  wrote :  "The  university 
is  yet  thin  and  desolate"  (Letters  of  R  ad c  life  and  James,  pp.  80,  85).  The 
change  was  greatly  due  to  better  roads  and  swifter  and  more  frequent  stage- 
coaches. ] 


1752]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  63 

Hampshire,  the  two  months  of  August  and  September.  It  is 
whimsical  enough,  that  as  soon  as  I  left  Magdalen  College, 
my  taste  for  books  began  to  revive  ;  but  it  was  the  same 
blind  and  boyish  taste  for  the  pursuit  of  exotic  history.1  Un- 
provided with  original  learning,  unformed  in  the  habits  of 
thinking,  unskilled  in  the  arts  of  composition,  I  resolved — to 
write  a  book.  The  title  of  this  first  Essay,  The  Age  qfSesoslris, 
was  perhaps  suggested  by  Voltaire's  Age  of  Lewis  XIV.  which 
was  new  and  popular  ;  but  my  sole  object  was  to  investigate 
the  probable  date  of  the  life  and  reign  of  the  conqueror  of 
Asia.  I  was  then  enamoured  of  Sir  John  Marsham's  Canon 
Chronicus  ;  an  elaborate  work,  of  whose  merits  and  defects 
I  was  not  yet  qualified  to  judge.-  According  to  his  specious, 
though  narrow  plan,  I  settled  my  hero  about  the  time  of 
Solomon,  in  the  tenth  century  before  the  Christian  era.  It 
was  therefore  incumbent  on  me,  unless  I  would  adopt  Sir 
Isaac  Newton's  shorter  chronology,3  to  remove  a  formidable 
objection  ;  and  my  solution,  for  a  youth  of  fifteen,  is  not 
devoid  of  ingenuity.  In  his  version  of  the  Sacred  Books, 
Manetho  the  high  priest  has  identified  Sethosis,  or  Sesostris, 

1  [D.  P.  (Daniel  Prince)  wrote  to  The  Gent.  Mag.  on  Feb.  4,  1794  (p.  119)  : 
"  I  was  Mr.  Gibbon's  bookseller  at  Oxford.  He  was  a  singular  character,  and 
but  little  connected  with  the  young  gentlemen  of  his  College.  They  admit  at 
Magdalen  College  only  men  of  fortune  ;  no  commoners.  One  uncommon  book 
for  a  young  man  I  remember  selling  to  him  :  La  Bibliotheque  OrieTitale 
(T Herbelot,  which  he  seems  much  to  have  used  for  authorities  for  his  Eastern 
Roman  History."  "  The  art  and  genius  of  history  have  ever  been  unknown  to 
the  Asiatics.  .  .  .  The  Oriental  Library  of  a  Frenchman  would  instruct  the 
most  learned  mufti  of  the  East  "  {The  Decline,  v.,  402).  For  D'Herbelot  see 
ante,  p.  45.] 

2  [It  was  published  in  1672.  For  Gibbon's  criticism  of  it  see  Misc.  Works, 
v.,  245.] 

3  [Gibbon,  in  his  Remarques  critiques  on  Newton's  chronology,  written  in 
1758,  says:  "Son  systeme  de  chronologie  suffirait  seul  pour  lui  assurer  1' im- 
mortality "  {Misc.  Works,  Hi. ,  152).  In  The  Decline,  v.,  104,  writing  of  Newton's 
detection  of  frauds  in  the  text  of  the  New  Testament,  he  says  :  "  I  have  weighed 
the  arguments  and  may  yield  to  the  authority  of  the  first  of  philosophers,  who 
was  deeply  skilled  in  critical  and  theological  studies  ". 

Whiston,  Newton's  successor  at  Cambridge  in  the  chair  of  mathematics, 
wrote  of  him  in  1749  :  "  He  was  of  the  most  fearful,  cautious  and  suspici- 
ous temper  that  I  ever  knew  ;  and  had  he  been  alive  when  I  wrote  against  his 
chronology,  and  so  thoroughly  confuted  it  that  nobody  has  ever  ventured  to 
vindicate  it,  that  I  know  of,  I  should  not  have  thought  proper  to  publish  it 
during  his  lifetime  ;  because  I  knew  his  temper  so  well  that  I  should  have 
expected  it  would  have  killed  him  "  (Whiston's  Memoirs,  ed.  1749,  p.  294).] 


64  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1752 

with  the  elder  brother  of  Danaus,  who  landed  in  Greece, 
according  to  the  Parian  Marble,1  fifteen  hundred  and  ten 
years  before  Christ.  But  in  my  supposition  the  high  priest 
is  guilty  of  a  voluntary  error  ;  flattery  is  the  prolific  parent 
of  falsehood.  Manetho's  History  of  Egypt  is  dedicated  to 
Ptolemy  Philadelphus.  who  derived  a  fabulous  or  illegitimate 
pedigree  from  the  Macedonian  kings  of  the  race  of  Hercules. 
Danaus  is  the  ancestor  of  Hercules  ;  and  after  the  failure  of 
the  elder  branch,  his  descendants,  the  Ptolemies,  are  the  sole 
representatives  of  the  royal  family,  and  may  claim  by  inherit- 
ance the  kingdom  which  they  hold  by  conquest.  Such  were 
my  juvenile  discoveries  ;  at  a  riper  age  I  no  longer  presume 
to  connect  the  Greek,  the  Jewish  and  the  Egyptian  anti- 
quities, which  are  lost  in  a  distant  cloud.  Nor  is  this  the 
only  instance,  in  which  the  belief  and  knowledge  of  the  child 
are  superseded  by  the  more  rational  ignorance  of  the  man. 
During  my  stay  at  Buriton,  my  infant  labour  was  diligently 
prosecuted,  without  much  interruption  from  company  or 
country  diversions  ;  and  I  already  heard  the  music  of  public 
applause.  The  discovery  of  my  own  weakness  was  the  first 
symptom  of  taste.  On  my  return  to  Oxford,  the  Age  of 
Sesostris  was  wisely  relinquished ;  but  the  imperfect  sheets 
remained  twenty  years  at  the  bottom  of  a  drawer,  till,  in  a 
general  clearance  of  papers  (November,  1772),  they  were 
committed  to  the  flames. 

After  the  departure  of  Dr.  Waldegrave,  I  was  transferred, 
with  his  other  pupils,  to  his  academical  heir,  whose  literary 
character  did  not  command  the  respect  of  the  college.  Dr. 
.  .   .  .2  well  remembered  that  he  had  a  salary  to  receive,  and 

1  [Gibbon,  reading  Marsham  in  1762,  recorded  :  "  I  cannot  help  wondering 
at  the  blind  deference  which  he  pays  to  the  oracular  authority  of  the  Parian 
Marble  :  De  ea  re  (the  age  of  Homer)  non  est  amplius  ambigendum.  I  respect 
that  monument  as  an  useful,  as  an  uncorrupt  monument  of  antiquity ;  but 
why  should  I  prefer  its  authority  to  that  of  Herodotus,  for  instance?  It  is 
more  modern,  its  authority  is  uncertain  "  {Misc.   Works,  v.,  245).] 

2 [Thomas  Winchester.  Archdeacon  Churton  described  him  as  "a  con- 
siderable Tutor  in  the  College,  when,  among  others,  the  ingenious  Mr.  Lovibond 
was  his  pupil.  .  .  .  His  talents,  if  not  splendid,  were  sound  and  good ;  his 
attainments  various  and  useful ;  and  he  was  a  true  son  to  the  Church  of 
England"  (Bloxam's  Register,  iii. ,  pp.   220,  224).     Dr.  Bloxam  adds  :  "The 


1751-53]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  65 

only  forgot  that  he  had  a  duty  to  perform.1  Instead  of  guid- 
ing the  studies,  and  watching  over  the  behaviour  of  his  disciple, 
I  was  never  summoned  to  attend  even  the  ceremony  of  a 
lecture ;  and,  excepting  one  voluntary  visit  to  his  rooms, 
during  the  eight  months  of  his  titular  office,  the  tutor  and 
pupil  lived  in  the  same  college  as  strangers  to  each  other. 
The  want  of  experience,  of  advice,  and  of  occupation,  soon 
betrayed  me  into  some  improprieties  of  conduct,  ill-chosen 
company,  late  hours,  and  inconsiderate  expense.  My  growing 
debts  might  be  secret ;  but  my  frequent  absence  was  visible 
and  scandalous  2  :  and  a  tour  to  Bath,  a  visit  into  Buckingham- 
shire, and  four  excursions  to  London  in  the  same  winter,  were 
costly  and  dangerous  frolics.  They  were,  indeed,  without  a 
meaning,  as  without  an  excuse.  The  irksomeness  of  a 
cloistered  life  repeatedly  tempted  me  to  wander ;  but  my 
chief  pleasure  was  that  of  travelling ;  and  I  was  too  young 
and  bashful  to  enjoy,  like  a  manly  Oxonian  in  town,  the 
pleasures  of  London.3     In  all  these  excursions  I  eloped  from 

late  venerable  President  [Routh]  remembered  him  coming  occasionally  to  the 
College  Gaudy,  and  represented  him  to  me  as  a  man  of  a  very  florid  com- 
plexion" (ib.,  p.  225).] 

1  [According  to  Bentham,  one  of  the  two  tutors  at  Queen's  College  took 
pupils  for  six  guineas,  and  the  other  took  them  for  eight.  "The  cheaper  was 
selected  by  Bentham's  father.  It  mattered  little— the  difference  was  only 
between  Bavius  and  Masvius"  (Bentham's  Works,  x. ,  38).  Gibbon,  as  a 
gentleman-commoner,  paid  his  tutor  twenty  guineas  (Auto.,  p.  226).  Archibald 
Macdonald  (afterwards  Chief  Baron  of  the  Exchequer)  wrote  from  Christ 
Church  in  1769:  "From  the  college  tutor  very  little  is  to  be  expected.  He 
does  not  interfere  at  all  with  the  expense  of  his  pupil,  not  a  great  deal  with  his 
Latin  and  Greek,  far  less  with  his  progress  in  the  sciences.  The  Gentleman- 
Commoner  pays  his  tutor  twenty  guineas  per  annum.  The  Commoner  eight  " 
(Letters  of  Johnson,  i.,  419).  John  Wesley,  who  had  been  a  tutor  of  Lincoln 
College  twenty  years  before  Gibbon  entered  Magdalen,  said  :  "  I  should  have 
thought  myself  little  better  than  a  highwayman  if  I  had  not  lectured  my  pupils 
every  day  in  the  year  but  Sundays  "  (Wesley's  Journals,  ed.  1827,  iv. ,  75).] 

2[Hurdis,  with  matchless  impudence,  thus  defends  Magdalen  :  "  In  a  large 
college  the  absence  of  an  individual,  especially  of  Mr.  Gibbon's  dimensions, 
might  not  have  been  visible,  as  he  incorrectly  asserts  it  must  have  been.  .  .  . 
It  was  Magdalen  College  which  made  him  fly  from  the  stately  edifices  of  Oxford 
to  an  old  inconvenient  tenement  in  Lausanne.  Whatever  application,  sobriety 
and  literary  desert  were  consequent,  must  be  referred  to  this,  salutary,  though 
severe,  proof  of  discipline  still  alive  and  still  endued  with  energy  in  Magdalen 
College"  (Hurdis's  Vindication,  pp.  5,  9).] 

3  [The  prologue  to  Colman's  The  Oxonian  in  Town  (1769)  was  spoken  by 
"Mr.  Woodward,  in  the  character  of  a  Gentleman-Commoner  ".  .  .  .  The  scene 
opens  at  the  door  of  a  tavern  in  Covent  Garden  where  two  Oxonians  have  just 


66  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1752-53 

Oxford ;  I  returned  to  college ;  in  a  few  days  I  eloped  again, 
as  if  I  had  been  an  independent  stranger  in  a  hired  lodging, 
without  once  hearing  the  voice  of  admonition,  without  once 
feeling  the  hand  of  controul.  Yet  my  time  was  lost,  my  ex- 
penses were  multiplied,  my  behaviour  abroad  was  unknown  ; 
folly  as  well  as  vice  should  have  awakened  the  attention  of 
my  superiors,  and  my  tender  years  would  have  justified  a  more 
than  ordinary  degree  of  restraint  and  discipline.1 

It  might  at  least  be  expected,  that  an  ecclesiastical  school 
should  inculcate  the  orthodox  principles  of  religion.  But  our 
venerable  mother  had  contrived  to  unite  the  opposite  extremes 
of  bigotry  and  indifference  2  ;  an  heretic,  or  unbeliever,  was  a 
monster  in  her  eyes ;  but  she  was  always,  or  often,  or  some- 
times remiss  in  the  spiritual  education  of  her  own  children.3 
According  to  the  statutes  of  the  university,  every  student, 
before  he  is  matriculated,  must  subscribe  his  assent  to  the 
thirty-nine  articles  of  the  church  of  England,  which  are 
signed  by  more  than  read,  and  read  by  more  than  believe 
them.  My  insufficient  age  excused  me,  however,  from  the 
immediate  performance  of  this  legal  ceremony,  and  the  Vice- 
Chancellor  directed  me  to  return,  as  soon  as  I  should  have 
accomplished  my  fifteenth  year ;  recommending  me,  in  the 
meanwhile,  to  the  instruction  of  my  college.      My  college 

arrived.  One  says  to  the  other  :  "  Let's  in.  Perhaps  we  shall  meet  with  some 
Oxford  acquaintance,  for  I  know  that  Bob  Lounge  and  Dick  Scamper  drew  for 
their  quarterage  but  two  days  ago  ;  and  they  always  spend  the  first  week  after 
they  receive  it  in  Covent  Garden."] 

1  [See  Appendix  15.] 

2  [The  general  indifference  of  the  Church  at  this  time  is  shown  by  a  letter 
Whiston  received  in  1730  from  "a  worthy  friend  "  of  his  living  in  Durham,  who 
wrote  to  him  :  ' '  For  near  two  years  last  past  there  hath  not  been  one  Bishop 
appeared  amongst  us  in  all  the  North  part  of  England  "  (Whiston's  Memoirs, 

P-  337)-] 

3  [James  wrote,  on  May  19,  1781  :  "The  new  regulations  introduced  by  the 
Vice-Chancellor  extend  only  to  petty  irregularities,  whilst  the  weightier  matters 
of  the  law  are  disregarded.  It  is  in  these  in  particular  that  our  superiors  are 
very  exact  and  profuse  of  rebuke.  Thus  very  lately  a  man  was  imposed  [given 
an  imposition]  for  having  missed  chapel,  while  others  were  suffered  to  get  drunk 
without  any  but  a  trifling  verbal  reprimand  "  {Letters  of  Radcliffe  and  James, 
p.  141).  See  also  Boswell's  Johnson,  iii. ,  13,  n.  3.  "To  a  philosophic  eye 
the  vices  of  the  clergy  are  far  less  dangerous  than  their  virtues  ' '  ( The  Decline, 
v.,  299).] 


1752-53]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  67 

forgot  to  instruct :  I  forgot  to  return,  and  was  myself  forgotten 
by  the  first  magistrate  of  the  university.1  Without  a  single 
lecture,  either  public  or  private,  either  Christian  or  Protestant, 
without  any  academical  subscription,  without  any  episcopal 
confirmation,  I  was  left  by  the  dim  light  of  my  catechism  to 
grope  my  way  to  the  chapel  and  communion-table,  whei'e  I 
was  admitted,  without  a  question,  how  far,  or  by  what  means, 
I  might  be  qualified  to  receive  the  sacrament.  Such  almost 
incredible  neglect  was  productive  of  the  worst  mischiefs. 
From  my  childhood  I  had  been  fond  of  religious  disputation  : 
my  poor  aunt  has  been  often  puzzled  by  the  mysteries  which 
she  strove  to  believe  ;  nor  had  the  elastic  spring  been  totally 
broken  by  the  weight  of  the  atmosphere  of  Oxford.  The 
blind  activity  of  idleness  urged  me  to  advance  without  armour 
into  the  dangerous  mazes  of  controversy  ;  and  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen, I  bewildered  myself  in  the  errors  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 
The  progress  of  my  conversion  may  tend  to  illustrate,  at 
least,  the  history  of  my  own  mind.  It  was  not  long  since  Dr. 
Middleton's  Free  Enquiry  had  sounded  an  alarm  in  the  theo- 
logical world  :  much  ink  and  much  gall  had  been  spilt  in  the 
defence  of  the  primitive  miracles 2 ;  and  the  two  dullest  of 
their  champions  were  crowned  with  academic  honours  by  the 
university  of  Oxford.3    The  name  of  Middleton  was  unpopular  ; 

1  [See  Appendix  16.] 

2  [Dr.  Conyers  Middleton's  Free  Enquiry  into  the  Miraculous  Powers  which 
are  supposed  to  have  subsisted  in  the  Christian  Church  from  the  Earliest  A%cs 
through  Several  Successive  Centuries  was  published  in  1749.  He  had  preceded  it 
in  1747  by  an  Introductory  Discourse. 

Gibbon,  reading  the  book  in  1764,  recorded  of  the  author  :  "  This  man  was 
endowed  with  penetration  and  accuracy.  He  saw  where  his  principles  led  ;  but 
he  did  not  think  proper  to  draw  the  consequences  "  (Misc.    Works,  v.,  463). 

"  The  miracles  of  the  primitive  Church,  after  obtaining  the  sanction  of  ages, 
have  been  lately  attacked  in  a  very  free  and  ingenious  inquiry  ;  which,  though  it 
has  met  with  the  most  favourable  reception  from  the  Public,  appears  to  have 
excited  a  general  scandal  among  the  divines  of  our  own  as  well  as  of  the  other 
Protestant  Churches  of  Europe  ' '  (  The  Decline,  ii. ,  29). 

In  The  Gent.  Mag.,  1749,  pp.  96,  161,  240,  288,  480,  528,  there  is  mention  of 
seven  works  on  this  controversy ;  and  in  1750,  pp.  48,  96,  144,  192,  240,  528,  576, 
of  twenty.] 

:i[Dr.  Dodwell  and  Dr.  Church.  "On  this,  indeed/'  writes  Middleton, 
"they  have  great  reason  to  plume  themselves,  but  would  have  had  much 
greater,  if  that  learned  body  could  stamp  the  truth  of  opinions  by  the  same  seal 
with  which  it  stamps  diplomas  "  (Middleton,  Misc.   Works,  ed.  1752.  i.,  290).] 


68  EDWARD  GIBBON  [ma 

and  his  proscription  very  naturally  led  me  to  peruse  his 
writings,  and  those  of  his  antagonists.  His  bold  criticism, 
which  approaches  the  precipice  of  infidelity,1  produced  on  my 
mind  a  singular  effect ;  and  had  I  persevered  in  the  com- 
munion of  Rome,  I  should  not  apply  to  my  own  fortune 
the  prediction  of  the  Sibyl, 

Via  prima  salutis, 

Quod  minime  reris,  Graia  pandetur  ab  urbe.2 

The  elegance  of  style  and  freedom  of  argument  were  repelled 
by  a  shield  of  prejudice.  I  still  revered  the  character,  or 
rather  the  names,  of  the  saints  and  fathers  whom  Dr. 
Middleton  exposes  ;  nor  could  he  destroy  my  implicit  belief 
that  the  gift  of  miraculous  powers  was  continued  in  the 
church,  during  the  first  four  or  five  centuries  of  Christianity.3 
But  I  was  unable  to  resist  the  weight  of  historical  evidence, 
that  within  the  same  period  most  of  the  leading  doctrines  of 
popery  were  already  introduced  in  theory  and  practice  :  nor 
was  my  conclusion  absurd,  that  miracles  are  the  test  of  truth, 
and  that  the  church  must  be  orthodox  and  pure,  which  was  so 
often  approved  by  the  visible  interposition  of  the  Deity.     The 


1  [Gibbon  wrote  in  1779:  "A  theological  barometer  might  be  formed  of 
which  Cardinal  Baronius  and  our  countryman  Dr.  Middleton  should  constitute 
the  opposite  and  remote  extremities,  as  the  former  sunk  to  the  lowest  degree  of 
credulity  which  was  compatible  with  learning,  and  the  latter  rose  to  the  highest 
pitch  of  scepticism  in  anywise  consistent  with  religion.  The  intermediate 
gradations  would  be  filled  by  a  line  of  ecclesiastical  critics,  whose  rank  has  been 
fixed  by  the  circumstances  of  their  temper  and  studies,  as  well  as  by  the  spirit 
of  the  church  or  society  to  which  they  were  attached.  It  would  be  amusing 
enough  to  calculate  the  weight  of  prejudice  in  the  air  of  Rome,  of  Oxford,  of 
Paris,  and  of  Holland ;  and  sometimes  to  observe  the  irregular  tendency  of 
Papists  towards  freedom,  sometimes  to  remark  the  unnatural  gravitation  of 
Protestants  towards  slavery  "  (Misc.   Works,  iv. ,  588).] 

2[*-£neid,  vi.,  96. 

"  The  dawnings  of  thy  safety  shall  be  shown 

From  whence  thou  least  shalt  hope,  a  Grecian  town." 

(Dryden.)] 
::  ["  The  conversion  of  Constantine  is  the  era  which  is  most  usually  fixed  by 
Protestants  [of  the  withdrawal  of  miraculous  powers  from  the  Church].  The 
more  rational  divines  are  unwilling  to  admit  the  miracles  of  the  fourth,  whilst 
the  more  credulous  are  unwilling  to  reject  those  of  the  fifth  century"  (The 
Decline,  ii.,  30).  Whiston,  the  Unitarian,  published  in  1749  An  Account  of  the 
Exact  Time  when  Aliractilous  Gifts  Ceased  in  the  Church.  He  placed  it  (p.  9) 
"just  at,  or  after,  the  Council  of  Constantinople  [a.d.  381]  ".] 


1753]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  69 

marvellous  tales  which  are  so  boldly  attested  by  the  Basils 
and  Chrysostoms,  the  Austins  and  Jeroms,  compelled  me  to 
embrace  the  superior  merits  of  celibacy,  the  institution  of  the 
monastic  life,1  the  use  of  the  sign  of  the  cross,  of  holy  oil,  and 
even  of  images,2  the  invocation  of  saints,3  the  worship  of  relics, 
the  rudiments  of  purgatory  in  prayers  for  the  dead,4  and  the 
tremendous  mystery  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ,  which  insensibly  swelled  into  the  prodigy  of  transub- 
stantiation.  In  these  dispositions,  and  already  more  than 
half  a  convert,  I  formed  an  unlucky  intimacy  with  a  young 
gentleman  of  our  college,  whose  name  I  shall  spare.     With 

a  character  less  resolute,   Mr.   5   had  imbibed  the   same 

religious  opinions  ;  and  some  Popish  books,  I  know  not 
through  what  channel,  were  conveyed  into  his  possession. 
I  read,  I  applauded,  1  believed  ; 6  the  English  translations 
of  two  famous  works  of  Bossuet,  Bishop  of  Meaux,  the 
Exposition   of   the    Catholic    Doctrine,7   and   the    History  of 

l[Ante,  p.  57,  n.  I.] 

2  [Writing  of  the  introduction  of  images  into  the  Church  he  says  :  ' '  The 
fond  alliance  of  the  monks  and  females  obtained  a  final  victory  over  the  reason 
and  authority  of  man  "  (  The  Decline,  v.,  276).] 

3  ["  The  title  of  saint  is  a  mark  that  his  opinions  and  his  party  have  finally 
prevailed"  (ib.,  v.,  107).  "Bernard  seems  to  have  preserved  as  much 
reason  and  humanity  as  may  be  reconciled  with  the  character  of  a  saint" 
(ib.,  vi.,   333).] 

i  [Some  ten  or  twelve  years  after  he  left  Oxford  Gibbon  thus  wrote  of  the 
Church  of  the  fifteenth  century:  "If  we  turn  from  letters  to  religion  the 
Christian  must  grieve,  and  the  philosopher  will  smile.  By  a  propensity  natural 
to  man  the  multitude  had  easily  relapsed  into  the  grossest  polytheism.  The 
existence  of  a  Supreme  Being  was  indeed  acknowledged  ;  his  mysterious  attri- 
butes were  minutely,  and  even  indecently,  canvassed  in  the  schools  ;  but  he 
was  allowed  a  very  small  share  in  the  public  worship,  or  the  administration  of 
the  universe.  The  devotion  of  the  people  was  directed  to  the  Saints  and  the 
Virgin  Mary,  the  delegates  and  almost  the  partners,  of  his  authority.  .  .  . 
New  legends  and  new  practices  of  superstition  were  daily  invented  by  the 
interested  diligence  of  the  mendicant  friars  ;  and  as  this  religion  had  scarcely 
any  connection  with  morality,  every  sin  was  expiated  by  penance,  and  every 
penance  indulgently  commuted  into  a  fine  "  (Misc.  Works,  iii.,  54).] 

5  [Gibbon  does  not  give  the  name.  In  the  second  edition  Lord  Sheffield 
filled  up  the  blank  with  "Mr.  Molesworth".  The  name  is  not  given  in 
Alumni  Oxon.  ;  neither,  the  President  tells  me,  is  it  in  the  College  books.] 

u[It  was  in  March,  1753,  that  his  conversion  began  (Auto.,  p.  296).] 

7  [Exposition  de  la  Doctrine  de  VEglise  Catholique  sur  les  Matieres  de 
Controverse.  Paris,  1671.  An  English  translation  was  printed  at  Paris  the 
following  year.  Hearne  (Remains,  i.,  58)  says  that  the  Exposition  was 
"translated  into   English  by    Mr.    Dryden,   then  only   a   poet,    afterwards   a 


70  EDWARD  GIBBON  [Uss 

the  Protestant  Variations, l  achieved  my  conversion,  and  I 
surely  fell  by  a  noble  hand.2  I  have  since  examined  the 
originals  with  a  more  discerning  eye,  and  shall  not  hesitate 
to  pronounce  that  Bossuet  is  indeed  a  master  of  all  the 
weapons  of  controversy.  In  the  Exposition,  a  specious 
apology,  the  orator  assumes,  with  consummate  art,  the  tone 
of  candour  and  simplicity  ;  and  the  ten-horned  monster  is 
transformed,  at  his  magic  touch,  into  the  milk-white  hind, 
who  must  be  loved  as  soon  as  she  is  seen.3  In  the  History, 
a  bold  and  well-aimed  attack,  he  displays,  with  a  happy 
mixture  of  narrative  and  argument,  the  faults  and  follies, 
the  changes  and  contradictions  of  our  first  reformers  ;  whose 
variations  (as  he  dexterously  contends)  are  the  mark  of 
historical  error,  while  the  perpetual  unity  of  the  catholic 
church  is  the  sign  and  test  of  infallible  truth.4  To  my 
present  feelings  it  seems  incredible  that  I  should  ever  believe 

papist,  and  may  be  so  before,  though  not  known  ".  Though  James  II.  made 
a  miserable  waste  of  Dryden's  time  by  withdrawing  him  from  poetry  to  the 
translation  of  controversial  books,  Bossuet's  Exposition  was  not  done  by  him. 
"  Perhaps,"  to  quote  Johnson's  words  when  he  is  speaking  of  the  attribution 
to  Dryden  of  another  translation,  "  Perhaps  the  use  of  his  name  was  a  pious 
fraud"  (Johnson's  Works,  vii.,  279).] 

l\_Histoire  des  Variations  des  Eglises  Protestantes.  2  vols.,  quarto.  Paris, 
1688.  An  English  translation  of  the  sixth  edition  was  printed  at  Antwerp  in 
1742.     It  was  reprinted  in  Dublin  in  1829. 

"  La  gloire  de  Bossuet  est  devenue  l'une  des  religions  de  la  France  " 
(Sainte-Beuve,  Causeries,  x.,   180).] 

2  Mr.  Gibbon  never  talked  with  me  on  the  subject  of  his  conversion  to 
popery  but  once  :  and  then  he  imputed  his  change  to  the  works  of  Parsons 
the  Jesuit,  who  lived  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  and  who,  he  said,  had  urged  all 
the  best  arguments  in  favour  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion. — Sheffield. 

[In  Lowndes's  Bibl.  Alan.,  p.  1790,  six  columns  are  given  to  the  works  of 
Robert  Parsons.] 

3  ["A  milk-white  Hind,  immortal  and  unchanged, 
Fed  on  the  lawns,  and  in  the  forest  ranged  ; 


'Tis  true  she  bounded/by,  and  tripped  so  light. 
They  had  not  time  to  take  a  steady  sight  ; 
For  truth  has  such  a  face  and  such  a  mien, 
As  to  be  loved  needs  only  to  be  seen." 

(Dryden,  The  Hind  and  the  Panther,  part  i.,  11.  1,  31.)] 
4 ["One  in  herself,  not  rent  by  schism,  but  sound, 
Entire,  one  solid  shining  diamond  ; 
Not  sparkles  shattered  into  sects  like  you  : 
One  is  the  Church,  and  must  be  to  be  true." 

(lb.,  part  ii.,  1.  526.)] 


175.3]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  71 

that  I  believed  in  transubstantiation.1  But  my  conqueror 
oppressed  me  with  the  sacramental  words,  "  Hoc  est  corpus 
meum,"  and  dashed  against  each  other  the  figurative  half- 
meanings  of  the  protestant  sects  ;  2  every  objection  was 
resolved  into  omnipotence  ;  and  after  repeating  at  St.  Mary's 
the  Athanasian  creed,3  I  humbly  acquiesced  in  the  mystery 
of  the  real  presence. 


To  take  up  half  on  trust,  and  half  to  try, 

Name  it  not  faith,  but  bungling  bigotry  ; 

Both  knave  and  fool,  the  merchant  we  may  call, 

To  pay  great  sums,  and  to  compound  the  small, 

For  who  would  break  with  Heaven,  and  would  not  break  for  all  ? 4 


} 


No  sooner  had  I  settled  my  new  religion  than  1  resolved  to 
profess  myself  a  catholic.  Youth  is  sincere  and  impetuous ; 
and  a  momentary  glow  of  enthusiasm  had  raised  me  above  all 
temporal  considerations.5 

By  the  keen  protestants,  who  would  gladly  retaliate  the 
example  of  persecution,  a  clamour  is  raised  of  the  increase  of 
popery :  and   they  are  always    loud   to   declaim   against    the 

^Gibbon,  writing  of  Pope  Innocent  III.,  says  :  "  It  was  at  the  feet  of  his 
legate  that  John  of  England  surrendered  his  crown  ;  and  Innocent  may  boast 
of  the  two  most  signal  triumphs  over  sense  and  humanity,  the  establishment  of 
transubstantiation,  and  the  origin  of  the  Inquisition"  [The  Decline,  vi. ,  355). 
In  The  Outlines  of  the  History  of  the  World,  written  many  years  earlier, 
Gibbon  had  thus  expressed  the  same  thought  :  "  By  establishing  the  doctrine 
of  transubstantiation  and  the  tribunal  of  the  Inquisition,  Innocent  III.  obtained 
the  two  most  memorable  victories  over  the  common  sense  and  common  rights 
of  mankind  "  [Misc.  Works,  iii.,  21).  In  the  same  Essay  he  speaks  of  Lewis 
IX.  as  being  "disgraced  by  the  title  of  Saint  "  (id.,  p.  25).  For  Gibbon's 
spelling  of  transubstantiation  see  Auto.,  pp.  86,  128,  137.] 

'2[I  do  not  find  that  Bossuet  in  his  Exposition  (pp.  79-152)  anywhere  quotes 
the  Latin.  He  frequently  repeats  "  Ceci  est  mon  corps  ".  His  adversaries  he 
always  describes  as  "Messieurs  de  la  Religion  Pretendue  Reformee  ".  He 
examines  the  same  question  in  the  History,  bks.  ii. ,  vi.,  xiv.] 

;!["  The  three  following  truths,  however  surprising  they  may  seem,  are  now 
universally  acknowledged  :  1.  St.  Athanasius  is  not  the  author  of  the  creed 
which  is  so  frequently  read  in  our  churches.  2.  It  does  not  appear  to  have 
existed  within  a  century  after  his  death.  3.  It  was  originally  composed  in 
the  Latin  tongue,  and  consequently  in  the  Western  Provinces.  Gennadius, 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  was  so  much  amazed  by  this  extraordinary  com- 
position that  he  frankly  pronounced  it  to  be  the  work  of  a  drunken  man  ' '  ( The 
Decline,  iv. ,  89).  ] 

4[The  Hind  and  the  Panther,  i.,  141.] 

3  He  described  the  letter  to  his  father,  announcing  his  conversion,  as  written 
with  all  the  pomp,  the  dignity,  and  self-satisfaction  of  a  martyr.— Sheffield. 


72  EDWARD  GIBBON  [i7*a 

toleration  of  priests  and  Jesuits,  who  pervert  so  many  of  his 
majesty's  subjects  from  their  religion  and  allegiance.1  On 
the  present  occasion,  the  fall  of  one  or  more  of  her  sons 
directed  this  clamour  against  the  university :  and  it  was  con- 
fidently affirmed  that  popish  missionaries  were  suffered,  under 
various  disguises,  to  introduce  themselves  into  the  colleges 
of  Oxford.  But  justice  obliges  me  to  declare,  that,  as  far  as 
relates  to  myself,  this  assertion  is  false ;  and  that  I  never 
conversed  with  a  priest,  or  even  with  a  papist,  till  my  resolu- 
tion from  books  was  absolutely  fixed.2  In  my  last  excursion 
to  London,  I  addressed  myself  to  Mr.  Lewis,3  a  Roman 
catholic  bookseller  in  Russell  Street,4  Covent  Garden,  who 
recommended  me  to  a  priest,  of  whose  name  and  order  I  am 
at  present  ignorant.5  In  our  first  interview  he  soon  discovered 
that  persuasion  was  needless.  After  sounding  the  motives 
and  merits  of  my  conversion,  he  consented  to  admit  me  into 
the  pale  of  the  church ;  and  at  his  feet,  on  the  eighth  of  June, 
1753,    I   solemnly,   though    privately,   abjured   the   errors   of 


1  ["  Under  the  reign  of  Lewis  XIV.  his  subjects  of  every  rank  aspired  to  the 
glorious  title  of  Co?ivertisseur,  expressive  of  their  zeal  and  success  in  making 
proselytes.  The  word  and  the  idea  are  growing  obsolete  in  France  ;  may  they 
never  be  introduced  into  England !  "  [The  Decline,  ii.,  451.)] 

2["  Cette  conversion  solitaire  et  toute par  les  livres  caractense  bien  Gibbon  " 
(Causeries  du  Lundi,  viii.,  437).] 

3["  He  died  in  1802.  He  used  to  relate  that  his  father  was  a  schoolfellow 
with  Pope"  (Nichols's  Lit.  Artec,  iii. ,  646).] 

4  [It  was  at  the  shop  of  a  bookseller  in  the  same  street  (No.  8)  that,  on  May 
16,  1763,  Boswell  first  saw  Johnson  (Boswell's  Johnson,  i.  390). 

Mary  Lamb  wrote  to  Miss  Wordsworth  on  Nov.  21,  1817  :  "  Here  we  are, 
living  at  a  brazier's  shop,  No.  20,  in  Russell  Street,  Covent  Garden,  a  place 
all  alive  with  noise  and  bustle ;  Drury  Lane  Theatre  in  sight  from  our  front 
and  Covent  Garden  from  our  back  windows".  Charles  Lamb  wrote  on  the 
same  day  :  "We  are  in  the  individual  spot  I  like  best  in  all  this  great  city. 
The  theatres,  with  all  their  noises.  Covent  Garden,  dearer  to  me  than  any 
gardens  of  Alcinous,  where  we  are  morally  sure  of  the  earliest  peas  and 
'sparagus.  Bow  Strest,  where  the  thieves  are  examined,  within  a  few  yards  of 
us.  Mary  had  not  been  here  four  and  twenty  hours  before  she  saw  a  thief. 
She  sits  at  the  window  working ;  and  casually  throwing  out  her  eyes,  she  sees 
a  concourse  of  people  coming  this  way  with  a  constable  to  conduct  the  solemnity. 
These  little  incidents  agreeably  diversify  a  female  life"  (Lamb's  Letters,  ed. 
1888,  ii.,  6,  8).] 

5  His  name  was  Baker,  a  Jesuit,  and  one  of  the  chaplains  of  the  Sardinian 
ambassador.  Mr.  Gibbon's  conversion  made  some  noise,  and  Mr.  Lewis 
was  summoned  before  the  Privy  Council  and  interrogated  on  the  subject.  This 
was  communicated  by  Mr.  Lewis's  son,  1814. — Sheffield. 


1753]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  73 

heresy.  The  seduction  of  an  English  youth  of  family  and 
fortune  was  an  act  of  as  much  danger  as  glory  ;  but  he  bravely 
overlooked  the  danger,  of  which  I  was  not  then  sufficiently 
informed.  "  Where  a  person  is  reconciled  to  the  see  of  Rome, 
or  procures  others  to  be  reconciled,  the  offence  (says  Blackstone) 
amounts  to  high  treason."  1  And  if  the  humanity  of  the  age 
would  prevent  the  execution  of  this  sanguinary  statute,  thei'e 
were  other  laws  of  a  less  odious  cast,  which  condemned  the 
priest  to  perpetual  imprisonment,  and  transferred  the  pro- 
selyte's estate  to  his  nearest  relation.2  An  elaborate  contro- 
versial epistle,  approved  by  my  director,  and  addressed  to  my 
father,  announced  and  justified  the  step  which  I  had  taken. 
My  father  was  neither  a  bigot  nor  a  philosopher ;  but  his 
affection  deplored  the  loss  of  an  only  son  ;  and  his  good  sense 
was  astonished  at  my  strange  departure  from  the  religion  of 
my  country.  In  the  first  sally  of  passion  he  divulged  a  secret 
which  prudence  might  have  suppressed,  and  the  gates  of 
Magdalen  College  were  for  ever  shut  against  my  return.'' 
Many  years  afterwards,  when  the  name  of  Gibbon  was  become 
as  notorious  as  that  of  Middleton,  it  was  industriously 
whispered  at  Oxford,  that  the  historian  had  formerly  "  turned 
Papist "  ; 4  my  character  stood  exposed  to  the  reproach  of 
inconstancy  ;  and  this  invidious  topic  would  have  been  handled 

1  ["  Where  these  errors  are  also  aggravated  by  apostacy  or  perversion,  where 
a  person,"  etc.  (Blackstone's  Comm.,  ed.  1775,  iv. ,  56).] 

2  [See  Appendix  17.] 

3  ["As  to  the  secret,"  asks  Parr,  "  if  it  had  been  kept,  did  Mr.  Gibbon,  the 
convert,  mingle  so  little  sincerity  with  his  zeal  as  to  be  capable  of  returning  to 
Magdalen,  even  if  he  had  not  been  forbidden  to  return  ?  "  (Parr's  Works,  ii.,  572.) 

Gibbon  wrote  to  his  aunt  on  Sept.  20,  1755  :  ' '  My  scheme  would  be  to 
spend  this  winter  at  Lausanne  .  .  .  and  after  that,  finish  my  studies  either  at 
Cambridge  (for  after  what  has  passed  one  cannot  think  of  Oxford)  or  at  an 
university  in  Holland"  (Misc.   Works,  i.,  98).] 

4  [Gibbon  no  doubt  refers  to  the  following  passage  in  Boswell's  Johnson,  ii., 
447:  "'  We  talked  of  a  work  much  in  vogue  at  that  time  .  .  .  which,  under 
pretext  of  another  subject,  contained  much  artful  infidelity.  .  .  .  The  author 
had  been  an  Uxonian,  and  was  remembered  there  for  having  '  turned  Papist '. 
I  observed,  that  as  he  had  changed  several  times — from  the  Church  of  England 
to  the  Church  of  Rome, — from  the  Church  of  Rome  to  infidelity, — I  did  not 
despair  yet  of  seeing  him  a  methodist  preacher.  Johnson  (laughing).  '  It  is 
said,  that  his  range  has  been  more  extensive,  and  that  he  has  once  been 
Mahometan.' "  For  Macaulay's  explanation  of  the  rumour  that  Gibbon  had 
been  a  Mahometan  see  his  Essays,  ed.  1874,  i. ,  373,  n.] 


74  EDWARD  GIBBON  [i75s 

without  mercy  by  my  opponents,  could  they  have  separated 
my  cause  from  that  of  the  university.  For  my  own  part,  I 
am  proud  of  an  honest  sacrifice  of  interest  to  conscience.  I 
can  never  blush,  if  my  tender  mind  was  entangled  in  the 
sophistry  that  seduced  the  acute  and  manly  understandings 
of  Chillingworth  and  Bayle,  who  afterwards  emerged  from 
superstition  to  scepticism. 

While  Charles  the  First  governed  England,  and  was  himself 
governed  by  a  Catholic  queen,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the 
missionaries  of  Rome  laboured  with  impunity  and  success  in 
the  Court,  the  country,  and  even  the  universities.  One  of 
the  sheep, 

— ■ —  Whom  the  grim  wolf  with  privy  paw 
Daily  devours  apace,  and  nothing  said,1 

is  Mr.  William  Chillingworth,  Master  of  Arts,  and  Fellow  of 
Trinity  College,  Oxford  ;  who,  at  the  ripe  age  of  twenty- 
eight  years,  was  persuaded  to  elope  from  Oxford,  to  the 
English  seminary  at  Douay  in  Flanders.  Some  disputes  with 
Fisher,  a  subtle  Jesuit,  might  first  awaken  him  from  the 
prejudices  of  education  ;  but  he  yielded  to  his  own  victorious 
argument,  "  that  there  must  be  somewhere  an  infallible  judge  ; 
and  that  the  Church  of  Rome  is  the  only  Christian  society 
which  either  does  or  can  pretend  to  that  character".2     After 

1["What  the  grim  wolf,"  etc.  {Lycidas,  1.  128).  In  Tlie  Hind  and  the 
Panther  the  "  insatiate  wolf"  is  the  Presbyterian  Church.] 

2  ["  The  study  and  conversation  of  the  university  scholars  at  that  time  turned 
chiefly  upon  the  controversies  between  the  Church  of  England  and  that  of 
Rome ;  and  the  great  liberty  which  had  been  allowed  the  Popish  missionaries 
in  the  end  of  the  reign  of  King  James  I.  being  continued  under  King  Charles  I., 
upon  the  account  of  his  marriage  with  Henrietta,  daughter  to  Henry  IV.  of 
France.  There  was  among  them  a  famous  Jesuit,  who  went  under  the  name 
of  John  Fisher,  though  his  true  name  was  John  Perse,  or  Percey,  and  was  very 
busy  in  making  converts,  particularly  at  Oxford  ;  and  attacking  Mr.  Chilling- 
worth upon  the  necessity  of  an  infallible  living  judge  in  matters  of  faith,  the 
latter  forsook  the  communion  of  the  Church  of  England."  Chillingworth  on 
his  conversion  wrote  to  Sheldon,  asking  him  :  "  1.  Whether  it  be  not  evident 
from  Scripture,  and  Fathers,  and  reason  ;  from  the  goodness  of  God  and  the 
necessity  of  mankind,  that  there  must  be  some  one  Church  infallible  in  matters  of 
faith  ?  2.  Whether  there  be  any  society  of  men  in  the  world,  besides  the  Church 
of  Rome,  that  either  can,  upon  good  warrant,  or  indeed  at  all,  challenge  to 
itself  the  privilege  of  infallibility  in  matter  of  faith?  "  (Birch's  Life  of  Chilling- 
worth prefixed  to  Chillingworth's  Works,  ed.  1820,  i. ,  2.  See  also  ib. ,  iii., 
428,  for  An  Account  of  what  moved  the  Author  to  turn  Papist.) 


1753]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  75 

a  short  trial  of  a  few  months,  Mr.  Chillingworth  was  again 
tormented  by  religious  scruples  :  he  returned  home,  resumed 
his  studies,  unravelled  his  mistakes,  and  delivered  his  mind 
from  the  yoke  of  authority  and  superstition.  His  new  creed 
was  built  on  the  principle,  that  the  Bible  is  our  sole  judge, 
and  private  reason  our  sole  interpreter :  and  he  ably  main- 
tains this  principle  in  the  Religion  of  a  Protestant,  a  book 
which,  after  startling  the  doctors  of  Oxford,  is  still  esteemed 
the  most  solid  defence  of  the  Reformation.1  The  learning, 
the  virtue,  the  recent  merits  of  the  author,  entitled  him  to 
fair  preferment :  but  the  slave  had  now  broken  his  fetters ; 
and  the  more  he  weighed,  the  less  was  he  disposed  to  sub- 
scribe to  the  thirty-nine  articles  of  the  Church  of  England. 
In  a  private  letter  he  declares,  with  all  the  energy  of 
language,  that  he  could  not  subscribe  to  them  without  sub- 
scribing to  his  own  damnation ;  and  that  if  ever  he  should 
depart  from  this  immoveable  resolution,  he  would  allow  his 
friends  to  think  him  a  madman,  or  an  atheist.2     As  the  letter 


Dryden  spreads  this  argument  over  the  second  part  of  The  Hind  and  the 
Panther. 

Johnson,  writing  of  Dryden's  conversion  to  Popery,  says:  "Chillingworth 
himself  was  awhile  so  entangled  in  the  wilds  of  controversy  as  to  retire  for  quiet 
to  an  infallible  Church  "  (Johnson's  Works,  vii.,  278). 

"  I  would  be  a  Papist  if  I  could,"  said  Johnson.  "  I  have  fear  enough  ;  but 
an  obstinate  rationality  prevents  me"  (Boswell's  Johnson,  iv. ,  289).] 

^Gibbon's  first  tutor  at  Magdalen  wrote  to  him  on  Dec.  7,  1758,  after  his 
reconversion  :  "  Had  I  in  the  least  suspected  your  design  of  leaving  us,  I  should 
immediately  have  put  you  upon  reading  Mr.  Chillingworth's  Religion  of 
Protestants  ;  any  one  page  of  which  is  worth  a  library  of  Swiss  divinity  "  (Misc. 
Works,  ii.,  37). 

Clarendon,  describing  "  the  felicity  of  the  times  before  the  Long  Parliament," 
mentions:  "The  Protestant  religion  more  advanced  against  the  Church  of 
Rome  by  writing,  especially  by  those  two  books  of  the  late  Lord  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  his  Grace,  and  of  Mr.  Chillingworth,  than  it  had  been  from  the 
Reformation  "  (History  of  the  Rebellion,  ed.  1826,  i.,  134)-] 

-[In  this  letter,  addressed  to  Sheldon,  he  wrote:  "The  case  stands  so  with 
me,  and  I  can  see  no  remedy  but  for  ever  it  will  do  so,  that  if  I  subscribe,  I 
subscribe  my  own  damnation.  ...  I  will  never  undervalue  the  happiness 
which  God's  love  brings  to  me  with  it,  as  to  put  it  to  the  least  adventure  in  the 
world,  for  the  gaining  of  any  worldly  happiness.  I  remember  very  well  qucerite 
primum  regnum  Dei,  et  ccetera  omnia  adjicientur  tibi  ;  and  therefore,  whenever 
I  make  such  a  preposterous  choice,  I  will  give  you  leave  to  think  I  am  out  of 
my  wits,  or  do  not  believe  in  God,  or  at  least  am  so  unreasonable  as  to  do  a 
thing,  in  hope  I  shall  be  sorry  for  it  afterwards,  and  wish  it  undone  "  (Chilling- 
worth's  Works,  i.,  15,  17).] 


76  EDWARD  GIBBON  [175* 

is  without  a  date,  we  cannot  ascertain  the  number  of  weeks 
or  months  that  elapsed  between  this  passionate  abhorrence 
and  the  Salisbury  Register,  which  is  still  extant.  "  Ego  Guliel- 
mus  Chillingworth,  .  .  .  omnibus  hisce  articulis,  .  .  .  et 
singulis  in  iisdem  contentis  volens,  et  ex  animo  subscribo,  et 
consensum  meum  iisdem  praebeo.  20  die  Julii  1638."  :  But, 
alas  !  the  chancellor  and  prebendary  of  Sarum  soon  deviated 
from  his  own  subscription :  as  he  more  deeply  scrutinized  the 
article  of  the  Trinity,  neither  scripture  nor  the  primitive 
fathers  could  long  uphold  his  orthodox  belief;  and  he  could 
not  but  confess,  "that  the  doctrine  of  Arius  is  either  a  truth, 
or  at  least  no  damnable  heresy".2  From  this  middle  region 
of  the  air,  the  descent  of  his  reason  would  naturally  rest  on 
the  firmer  ground  of  the  Socinians  :  and  if  we  may  credit  a 
doubtful  story,  and  the  popular  opinion,  his  anxious  inquiries 
at  last  subsided  in  philosophic  indifference.  So  conspicuous, 
however,  were  the  candour  of  his  nature  and  the  innocence 
of  his  heart,  that  this  apparent  levity  did  not  affect  the 
reputation  of  Chillingworth.  His  frequent  changes  pro- 
ceeded from  too  nice  an  inquisition  into  truth.  His  doubts 
grew  out  of  himself;  he  assisted  them  with  all  the  strength 
of  his  reason  :  he  was  then  too  hard  for  himself;  but  finding 
as  little  quiet  and  repose  in  those  victories,  he  quickly 
recovered,  by  a  new  appeal  to  his  own  j  udgment :  so  that 
in  all  his  sallies  and  retreats,  he  was  in  fact  his  own  con- 
vert. 

Bayle  was  the  son  of  a  Calvinist  minister  in  a  remote 
province  of  France,  at  the  foot  of  the  Pyrenees.  For  the 
benefit  of  education,  the  Protestants  were  tempted  to  risk 
their  children  in  the  Catholic  universities;  and  in  the  twenty- 
second  year  of  his  age,  young  Bayle  was  seduced  by  the  arts 
and  arguments  of  the  Jesuits  of  Toulouse.  He  remained 
about  seventeen  months  (19th  March,  1669 — 19th  August, 
1670)  in  their  hands,  a  voluntary  captive  :  and  a  letter  to  his 
parents,    which    the    new    convert    composed    or   subscribed 

1  [Chillingworth's  Works,  Preface,  p.  xii.]  a[/5.i  '•>  *2-] 


1753]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  77 

(15th  April,  1670),  is  darkly  tinged  with  the  spirit  of  popery. 
But  Nature  had  designed  him  to  think  as  he  pleased,  and  to 
speak  as  he  thought :  his  piety  was  offended  by  the  excessive 
worship  of  creatures,1  and  the  study  of  physics  convinced  him 
of  the  impossibility  of  transubstantiation,  which  is  abundantly 
refuted  by  the  testimony  of  our  senses.  His  return  to  the 
communion  of  a  falling  sect  was  a  bold  and  disinterested  step, 
that  exposed  him  to  the  rigour  of  the  laws :  and  a  speedy 
flight  to  Geneva  protected  him  from  the  resentment  of  his 
spiritual  tyrants,  unconscious  as  they  were  of  the  full  value 
of  the  prize  which  they  had  lost.  Had  Bayle  adhered  to  the 
Catholic  Church,  had  he  embraced  the  ecclesiastical  pro- 
fession, the  genius  and  favour  2  of  such  a  proselyte  might  have 
aspired  to  wealth  and  honours  in  his  native  country :  but  the 
hyprocite  would  have  found  less  happiness  in  the  comforts  of 
a  benefice,  or  the  dignity  of  a  mitre,  than  he  enjoyed  at 
Rotterdam  in  a  private  state  of  exile,  indigence,  and  freedom. 
Without  a  country,  or  a  patron,  or  a  prejudice,  he  claimed  the 
liberty  and  subsisted  by  the  labours  of  his  pen  :  the  inequality 
of  his  voluminous  works  is  explained  and  excused  by  his  alter- 
nately writing  for  himself,  for  the  booksellers,  and  for  posterity ; 
and  if  a  severe  critic  would  reduce  him  to  a  single  folio,3  that 
relic,  like  the  books  of  the  Sibyl,  would  become  still  more 


1  ["  Among  the  Barbarians  of  the  West  the  worship  of  images  advanced 
with  a  silent  and  insensible  progress  ;  but  a  large  atonement  is  made  for  their 
hesitation  and  delay  by  the  gross  idolatry  of  the  ages  which  precede  the 
Reformation,  and  of  the  countries,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  which  are 
still  immersed  in  the  gloom  of  superstition  "  (  The  Decline,  v.,  279).] 

2  \Quare  fervour.  ] 

;i [Voltaire,  dans  Le  Temple  du  Gout,  describing  "la  bibliotheque  de  ce 
palais  enchante,"  continues  :  "Tout  l'esprit  de  Bayle  se  trouve  dans  un  seul 
tome,  de  son  propre  aveu  ;  car  ce  judicieux  philosophe,  ce  juge  ^claire'  de 
tant  d'auteurs  et  de  tant  de  sectes,  disait  souvent  qu'il  n'aurait  pas  compose 
plus  d'un  in-folio  s'il  n'avait  ecrit  que  pour  lui,  et  non  pour  les  libraires  " 
(CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  x.,  160). 

In  a  letter  dated  "  21  Juin,  1739,"  Voltaire  wrote  :  "  Quel  a  done  etti  mon 
but,  en  reduisant  en  un  seul  tome  le  bel  esprit  de  Bayle  ?  De  faire  sentir  ce 
qu'il  pensait  lui-meme,  ce  qu'il  dit  et  £crit  a  M.  Desmaizeaux,  ce  que  j'ai  vu  de 
sa  main  :  qu'il  aurait  ecrit  moins  s'il  eut  e^  le  maitre  de  son  temps  "  [ib.,  xlvii., 
403).  In  another  passage  Voltaire  described  Bayle  as  "  cet  esprit,  si  6tendu, 
si  sage  et  si  penetrant,  dont  les  livres,  tout  diffus  qu'ils  peuvent  £tre,  seront  a 
jamais  la  bibliotheque  des  nations  "  (id. ,  xliii.,  208).] 


78  EDWARD  GIBBON  [nss 

valuable.  A  calm  and  lofty  spectator  of  the  religious  tempest, 
the  philosopher  of  Rotterdam  condemned  with  equal  firmness 
the  persecution  of  Lewis  the  Fourteenth,  and  the  republican 
maxims  of  the  Calvinists ;  their  vain  prophecies,  and  the  in- 
tolerant bigotry  which  sometimes  vexed  his  solitary  retreat. 
In  reviewing  the  controversies  of  the  times,  he  turned  against 
each  other  the  arguments  of  the  disputants 1 ;  successively 
wielding  the  arms  of  the  Catholics  and  Protestants,  he  proves 
that  neither  the  way  of  authority,  nor  the  way  of  examina- 
tion can  afford  the  multitude  any  test  of  religious  truth  ;  and 
dexterously  concludes  that  custom  and  education  must  be 
the  sole  grounds  of  popular  belief.2  The  ancient  paradox  of 
Plutarch,  that  atheism  is  less  pernicious  than  superstition,3 
acquires  a  tenfold  vigour,  when  it  is  adorned  with  the 
colours  of  his  wit,  and  pointed  with  the  acuteness  of  his 
logic.       His   critical   dictionary  is  a  vast  repository  of  facts 


1  [Gibbon  recorded  on  April  4,  1764:  "  I  finished  Bayle's  General  Criticism 
on  Maimbourg's  Histoiy  of  Calvinism.  No  man  was  ever  better  qualified  than 
Bayle  for  assuming  the  character  of  his  adversary,  showing  his  system  in  a  new 
garb,  and  for  availing  himself  of  all  places  open  to  assault ;  which  is  one  of  the 
greatest  advantages  of  the  sceptical  philosophy"  (Misc.  Works,  v.,  480).] 

2["  By  education  most  have  been  misled  ; 
So  they  believe,  because  they  so  were  bred. 
The  priest  continues  what  the  nurse  began, 
And  thus  the  child  imposes  on  the  man." 

(Dryden,  The  Hind  and  the  Panther,  iii. ,  389.) 
"  Boswell.  'Then  the  vulgar,  Sir,  never  can  know  they  are  right,  but 
must  submit  themselves  to  the  learned.'  Johnson.  '  To  be  sure,  Sir.  The 
vulgar  are  the  children  of  the  State,  and  must  be  taught  like  children.'  Bos- 
well. '  Then,  Sir,  a  poor  Turk  must  be  a  Mahometan,  just  as  a  poor 
Englishman  must  be  a  Christian  ? '  Johnson.  '  Why,  yes,  Sir  ;  and  what 
then  ?  This  now  is  such  stuff  as  I  used  to  talk  to  my  mother  when  I  first 
began  to  think  myself  a  clever  fellow ;  and  she  ought  to  have  whipt  me  for 
it'"  (Boswell's  Johnson,  ii.,  14).] 

3  ["  When  Alexander  had  once  abandoned  himself  to  superstition,  his  mind 
was  so  worried  by  vain  fears  and  anxieties  that  he  turned  the  least  incident 
which  was  in  any  respect  strange  and  extraordinary  into  a  sign  or  a  prodigy. 
The  Court  swarmed  with  sacrificers,  purifiers,  and  prognosticators  ;  these  were 
all  to  be  seen  exercising  their  talents  there.  So  true  it  is,  that  though  the 
disbelief  of  religion  and  contempt  of  things  divine  is  a  great  evil,  yet  superstition 
is  a  greater"  (Langhorne's  Plutarch's  Lives,  ed.  1809,  iv. ,  310).  Gibbon,  re- 
cording in  1764  that  he  had  read  Remarks  on  Bayle's  Dictionary,  added : 
' '  Intolerant  superstition  is  more  dangerous  than  impiety"  (Misc.  IVorks,  v. ,  462). 
"  L'athelsme  ne  peut  faire  aucun  bien  a  la  morale,  et  peut  lui  faire  beau- 
coup  de  mal.  II  est  presque  aussi  dangereux  que  le  fanatisme"  (CEuvres  de 
Voltaire,  xlii.,  245).] 


1753]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  79 

and  opinions,1  and  he  balances  the  false  religions2  in  his 
sceptical  scales,  till  the  opposite  quantities  (if  I  may  use  the 
language  of  algebra)  annihilate  each  other.  The  wonderful 
power  which  he  so  boldly  exercised,  of  assembling  doubts 
and  objections,  had  tempted  him  jocosely  to  assume  the  title 
of  the  ve<j!>eA.7/yepeTa  Zeus,  the  cloud-compelling  Jove  ;  and  in  a 
conversation  with  the  ingenious  Abb6  (afterwards  Cardinal) 
de  Polignac,  he  freely  disclosed  his  universal  Pyrrhonism. 
"  I  am  most  truly  (said  Bayle)  a  protestant ;  for  I  protest  in- 
differently against  all  systems  and  all  sects."  3 

The  academical  resentment,  which  I  may  possibly  have 
provoked,  will  prudently  spare  this  plain  narrative  of  my 
studies,  or  rather  of  my  idleness  ;  and  of  the  unfortunate 
event  which  shortened  the  term  of  my  residence  at  Oxford. 
But  it  may  be  suggested,  that  my  father  was  unlucky  in  the 
choice  of  a  society,  and  the  chance  of  a  tutor.4  It  will 
perhaps  be  asserted,  that  in  the  lapse  of  forty  years  many 
improvements  have  taken  place  in  the  college  and  in  the 
university.  I  am  not  unwilling  to  believe,  that  some  tutors 
might  have  been  found  more  active  than  Dr.  Waldegrave,  and 
less  contemptible  than  Dr.  .5       About  the  same  time, 

1  [Dictionnaire  historique  et  critique,  1696.  English  translation  in  4  vols., 
folio,  1710.  Gibbon  recorded  in  his  Journal  in  1762  :  "  If  Bayle  wrote  his 
Dictionary  to  empty  the  various  collections  he  had  made,  without  any  particular 
design,  he  could  not  have  chosen  a  better  plan.  It  permitted  him  everything, 
and  obliged  him  to  nothing.  By  the  double  freedom  of  a  dictionary  and  of 
notes  he  could  pitch  on  what  articles  he  pleased,  and  say  what  he  pleased  on 
those  articles"  [Misc.  Works,  v.,  238.     See  Boswell's  Johnson,  L,  425).] 

2  [What  Gibbon  meant  by  "the  false  religions"  is  shown  in  one  of  his  Me- 
moirs, where  he  writes  that  "Bayle  balanced  the  religions  of  the  earth" 
{Auto.,  p.  129).] 

3["  II  est  rapporte  dans  un  de  ces  diction naires  historiques,  ou  la  vente  est  si 
souvent  melee  avec  le  mensonge,  que  le  cardinal  de  Polignac,  en  passant  pat- 
Rotterdam,  demanda  a  Bayle  s'il  etait  anglican  ou  lutherien,  ou  calviniste,  et 
qu'il  repondit,  Je  suis  protestant ;  car  je  proteste  contre  toutes  les  religions." 
Voltaire,  after  giving  three  reasons  to  prove  this  story  false,  continues  :  "  II  est 
vrai  que 'Bayle  avait  dit  quelquefois  ce  qu'on  lui  fait  dire  :  il  ajoutait  qu'il  etait 
comme  Jupiter  assemble-nuages  d'Homere  "  (CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  xlii. ,  211).] 

4  ["  Often,"  writes  Parr,  ' '  has  it  fallen  in  my  way  to  lament  the  inconveniences 
which  young  men  have  suffered  from  a  wrong  choice  of  Colleges  ;  and  for  a 
wrong  choice  I  have  often  been  able  to  account  by  the  partialities  of  parents 
who  have  been  at  the  Universities"  (Parr's  Works,  ii.,  560).] 

5  [Winchester.  The  next  three  paragraphs,  which  appeared  in  the  first 
edition,  were  suppressed  in  the  second.  In  Auto.,  p.  93,  they  are  wrongly 
marked  as  "hitherto  unpublished  ".] 


80  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1753 

and  in  the  same  walk,  a  Bent  ham  was  still  treading  in  the 
footsteps  of  a  Burton,  whose  maxims  he  had  adopted,  and 
whose  life  he  had  published.  The  biographer  indeed  pre- 
ferred the  school-logic  to  the  new  philosophy,  Burgersdicius 
to  Locke ; 1  and  the  hero  appears,  in  his  own  writings,  a  stiff 
and  conceited  pedant.  Yet  even  these  men,  according  to  the 
measure  of  their  capacity,  might  be  diligent  and  useful ;  and 
it  is  recorded  of  Burton,  that  he  taught  his  pupils  what  he 
knew  ;  some  Latin,  some  Greek,  some  ethics  and  metaphysics  ; 
referring  them  to  proper  masters  for  the  languages  and  sciences 
of  which  he  was  ignorant.2  At  a  more  recent  period,  many 
students  have  been  attracted  by  the  merit  and  reputation  of 
Sir  William  Scott,  then  a  tutor  in  University  College,  and 
now  conspicuous  in  the  profession  of  the  civil  law  :  my  personal 
acquaintance  with  that  gentleman  has  inspired  me  with  a  just 
esteem  for  his  abilities  and  knowledge ;  and  I  am  assured 
that  his  lectures  on  history  would  compose,  were  they  given 
to  the  public,  a  most  valuable  treatise.3  Under  the  auspices 
of  the  present  Archbishop  of  York,  Dr.  Markham,4  himself  an 
eminent  scholar,  a  more  regular  discipline  has  been  introduced, 
as  I  am  told,  at  Christ  Church  ; 5  a  course  of  classical  and 

1  [Gibbon  quotes  Edward  Bentham's  De  Vita  el  Moribzts  Johannis  Purtoni. 
Oxon.,  1771.  Burton  taught  Locke.  "  Burtonus  Lockium  aliosque  recentioris 
notae  Philosophos  in  Scholas  adduxit,  comites  Aristotele  non  indignos" 
(p.  15).  I  find  no  mention  of  Burgersdicius.  Perhaps  Gibbon  refers  to  Bentham's 
Reflexions  upon  Logick,  ed.  1755,  p.  7,  where  the  author,  after  saying  that  "  the 
Logical  Theory  contained  in  Mr.  Locke's  Essay,  so  far  as  it  goes,  generally 
coincides  with  that  of  the  Schools,"  adds  that  the  perusal  of  the  Essay  had  better 
"be  postponed  until  a  man  hath  regularly  received  a  competent  degree  of 
knowledge  from  its  proper  sources  ". 

Mr.  Shandy  was  a  great  logician  though  he  had  never  ' '  heard  one  single 
lecture  upon  Burgersdicius"  [Tristam  Shandy,  bk.  i..  ch.  19*1.  Warburton,  in 
a  note  on  "  He  knew  what's  what "  (Hudibras,  part  i. ,  canto  i. ,  line.  149)  says  : 
"  It  is  a  ridicule  on  Burgersdicius's  Quid  est  quid  f  whence  came  the  expression 
of  '  He  knows  what's  what,'  to  denote  a  shrewd  man".] 

2[Z?e  Vita,  etc.,  p.  15.] 

3  [For  the  lectures  of  Scott  and  Blackstone  see  Appendix  18.] 

4  [In  the  second  edition  Lord  Sheffield  changed  this  into  "  Under  the  auspices 
of  the  late  Deans".  In  Parr's  Works,  i. ,  322,  there  is  an  interesting  discussion 
about  the  merits  of  Markham  and  Hurd  as  preceptors,  between  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  who  had  been  taught  by  them,  and  Dr.  Parr.  For  Markham  see  post, 
Appendix  7,  and  for  Hurd  post,  pp.  146,  178.] 

s  This  was  written  on  the  information  Mr.  Gibbon  had  received,  and  the 
observation  he  had  made,  previous  to  his  late  residence  at  Lausanne.  During 
his  last  visit  to  England,  he  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  at  Sheffield  Place 


1758]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  81 

philosophical  studies  is  proposed,  and  even  pursued,  in  that 
numerous  seminary :  learning  has  been  made  a  duty,  a  pleasure, 
and  even  a  fashion  ;  and  several  young  gentlemen  do  honour 
to  the  college  in  which  they  have  been  educated.1  According 
to  the  will  of  the  donor,  the  profit  of  the  second  part  of  Lord 
Clarendon's  History  has  been  applied  to  the  establishment  of 
a  riding-school,  that  the  polite  exercises  might  be  taught,  I 
know  not  with  what  success,  in  the  university.2  The  Vinerian 
professorship  is  of  far  more  serious  importance ;  the  laws  of 
his  country  are  the  first  science  of  an  Englishman  of  rank  and 
fortune,  who  is  called  to  be  a  magistrate,  and  may  hope  to  be 
a  legislator.  This  judicious  institution  was  coldly  entertained 
by  the  graver  doctors,  who  complained  (I  have  heard  the 
complaint)  that  it  would  take  the  young  people  from  their 
books  :  but  Mr.  Viner's  benefaction  is  not  unprofitable,  since 
it  has  at  least  produced  the  excellent  commentaries  of  Sir 
William  Blackstone.3 

some  young  men  of  the  college  above  alluded  to ;  he  had  great  satisfaction  in 
conversing  with  them,  made  many  inquiries  respecting  their  course  of  study, 
applauded  the  discipline  of  Christ  Church,  and  the  liberal  attention  shown 
by  the  Dean,  to  those  whose  only  recommendation  was  their  merit.  Had 
Mr.  Gibbon  lived  to  revise  this  work,  I  am  sure  he  would  have  mentioned  the 
name  of  Dr.  Jackson  with  the  highest  commendation. — Sheffield. 

[William  Markham  was  Dean,  1767-77  ;  Lewis  Bagot,  1777-83  ;  and  Cyril 
Jackson,  1783-1809.  "  Jackson  assisted  largely  in  framing  the  Public  Examina- 
tion Statute.  He  had  a  wonderful  tact  in  managing  that  most  unmanageable 
class  of  undergraduates,  Noblemen.  When  he  was  walking  in  Tom  Quad- 
rangle every  cap  was  off  the  head,  even  of  Tutors  and  noblemen,  while  he  was 
in  sight"  (Cox's  Recollections  of  Oxford,  p.  162). 

"  In  the  Hall  I  once  read  the  following  notice  of  the  day  on  which  the  next 
term  was  to  begin  :  Juniores  cujuscunque  ordinis,  die  — ,  mens  — ,  rebus  divinis 
mane  intersunto.  Cyr.  Jackson,  Decanus.  The  words  cujuscunque  ordinis  are 
a  memorial  of  the  glory  of  Jackson.  He  made  no  disgraceful  tuft-hunting 
distinctions  in  favour  of  noblemen  or  gentlemen  commoners  "  (H.  D.  Best's 
Memorials,  p.  101).] 

1  [Dr.  Parr  justly  reproached  Gibbon  with  not  inquiring  whether  Magdalen 
had  not  improved.  He  adds  that  the  Demyships  were  no  longer  given  upon  the 
recommendation  of  friends,  but  after  a  strict  examination,  and  that ' '  the  exercises 
of  the  Demies  during  term  were  examined  by  a  President  [Routh]  whose 
knowledge  of  the  Greek  philosophers,  and  Greek  fathers,  and  of  the  Greek  and 
Latin  language  was  at  least  equal  to  that  of  Mr.  Gibbon"  (Parr's  Works,  ii., 

555)-] 

-  [In  the  vain  attempt  to  establish  this  riding-school  Dr.  Johnson  was 
interested.  The  profit  derived  from  the  publication  was  allowed  to  accumulate. 
By  i860  it  amounted  to  ^10,000.  In  1872  it  was  spent  in  adding  the  Clarendon 
Laboratory  to  the  University  Museum  {Letters  of  Dr.  Johnson,  i. ,  309,  «.).] 

"[See  Appendix  18.] 

6 


82  EDWARD  GIBBON  [Hss 

After  carrying  me  to  Putney,  to  the  house  of  his  friend  Mr. 
Mallet,1  by  whose  philosophy  I  was  rather  scandalised  than 
reclaimed,  it  was  necessary  for  my  father  to  form  a  new  plan 
of  education,  and  to  devise  some  method  which,  if  possible, 
might  effect  the  cure  of  my  spiritual  malady.  After  much 
debate  it  was  determined,  from  the  advice  and  personal 
experience  of  Mr.  Eliot  (now  Lord  Eliot),  to  fix  me,  during 
some  years,  at  Lausanne  in  Switzerland.2  Mr.  Frey,  a  Swiss 
gentleman  of  Basil,3  undertook  the  conduct  of  the  journey : 
we  left  London  the  19th  of  June,  crossed  the  sea  from  Dover 
to  Calais,  travelled  post  through  several  provinces  of  France, 
by  the  direct  road  of  St.  Quentin,  Rheims,  Langres,  and 
Besancon,  and  arrived  the  30th  of  June  [1753]  at  Lausanne, 


1  The  author  of  a  Life  of  Bacon,  which  has  been  rated  above  its  value  ;  of 
some  forgotten  poems  and  plays  ;  and  of  the  pathetic  ballad  of  William  and 
Margaret.  His  tenets  were  deistical ;  perhaps  a  stronger  term  might  have  been 
used.  — Sheffield. 

[Gibbon  wrote  on  May  24,  1776  :  "  His  William  and  Margaret,  his  only 
good  piece  of  poetry,  is  torn  from  him,  and  by  the  evidence  of  old  manuscripts 
turns  out  to  be  the  work  of  the  celebrated  Andrew  Marvell,  composed  in  the 
year  1670"  (Corres.,  i.,  284).  Gibbon  refers  to  Edward  Thompson's  ed.  of 
Marvell,  1776,  4to,  3  vols,  (see  Gent.  Mag.,  1776,  pp.  355,  559). 

"Sundry  attempts,"  writes  Mr.  Wheatley,  "were  made  to  rob  Mallet  of 
the  credit  of  his  song.  Captain  Thompson,  the  editor  of  Andrew  Marvell's 
Works,  claimed  it  for  Marvell,  but  this  claim  was  even  more  ridiculous  than 
those  he  set  up  against  Addison  and  Watts  "  (Percy's  Reliques,  ed.  1891,  iii., 

309)- 

Professor  F.  J.  Child  says  that  "  a  copy  of  the  date  171 1,  with  the  title 

William  and  Margaret,  an  Old  Ballad,  turns  out  to  be  substantially  the  piece 
which  Mallet  published  as  his  own  in  1724,  Mallet's  changes  being  com- 
paratively slight.      William  and  Margaret  is  simply  Fair  Margaret  and  Sweet 

William  rewritten  in  what  used  to  be  called  an  elegant  style  "  (Eng.  and  Scot. 
Popular  Ballads,  iii. ,  199). 

For  Johnson's  attack  on  Mallet  as  editor  of  Bolingbroke's  Works  see 
Boswell's  Johnson,  i.,  268,  and  for  his  criticism  of  the  Life  of  Bacon  see 
Johnson's   Works,  viii. ,  465.     See  also  post,  p.  115.] 

2  [Three  years  later  Eliot  married  Gibbon's  first  cousin  [ante,  p.  21).  Eliot 
had  travelled  with  Lord  Chesterfield's  son,  under  the  care  of  the  same  tutor, 
Dr.  Harte  (Boswell's  Johnson,  iv.,  333).  They  had  spent  some  time  at 
Lausanne  (Chesterfield's  Letters  to  his  Son,  i.,  247). 

Chesterfield  writing  about  his  godson,  who  succeeded  him  in  the  Earldom, 
said  :  "I  would  take  him  away  from  thence  [Westminster  School]  before  he  is 
fourteen,  and  then  transport  him  to  Geneva,  the  soberest  and  most  decent 
place  that  I  know  of  in  Europe  "  (Chesterfield's  Letters  to  A.  C.  Stanhope,  ed. 
1890,  p.  50).] 

3  [Gibbon  recorded  in  1763:  "  Frey  est  philosophe,  et  fort  instruit,  mais 
froid  et  nullement  homme  d'esprit.  II  est  las  de  courir  le  monde  avec  des  jeunes 
fous"  (Misc.    Works,  l,  169).] 


1753]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  83 

where  I  was  immediately  settled  under  the  roof  and  tuition 
of  Mr.  Pavilliard,  a  Calvinist  minister. 

The  first  marks  of  my  father's  displeasure  rather  astonished 
than  afflicted  me  :  when  he  threatened  to  banish,  and  disown, 
and  disinherit  a  rebellious  son,  I  cherished  a  secret  hope  that 
he  would  not  be  able  or  willing  to  effect  his  menaces  ;  and 
the  pride  of  conscience  encouraged  me  to  sustain  the  honour- 
able and  important  part  which  I  was  now  acting.      My  spirits 
were  raised  and  kept  alive  by  the  rapid  motion  of  my  journey, 
the  new  and  various  scenes  of  the  Continent,  and  the  civility 
of  Mr.  Frey,  a  man  of  sense,  who  was  not  ignorant  of  books  or 
the  world.     But  after  he  had  resigned  me  into  Pavilliard's 
hands,  and  I  was  fixed  in  my  new  habitation,   I  had  leisure 
to  contemplate  the  strange  and  melancholy  prospect  before 
me.     My   first    complaint    arose    from  my  ignorance   of  the 
language.     In  my  childhood  I  had  once  studied  the  French 
grammar,  and  I  could  imperfectly  understand  the  easy  prose 
of  a  familiar  subject.      But  when  I  was  thus  suddenly  cast  on 
a  foreign  land  I  found  myself  deprived  of  the  use  of  speech 
and  of  hearing ;  and,  during  some  weeks,  incapable  not  only 
of  enjoying  the  pleasures  of  conversation,  but  even  of  asking 
or  answering  a  question  in  the  common  intercourse  of  life. 
To  a  home-bred  Englishman  every  object,  every  custom  was 
offensive  ;   but  the  native  of  any  country   might   have   been 
disgusted  with  the  general  aspect  of  his  lodging  and  enter- 
tainment.    I  had  now  exchanged  my  elegant  apartment  in 
Magdalen    College    for    a    narrow,    gloomy   street,   the   most 
unfrequented  of  an  unhandsome  town,  for  an  old  inconvenient 
house,  and  for  a  small  chamber  ill-contrived  and  ill-furnished, 
which,  on  the  approach  of  winter,  instead  of  a  companionable 
fire,  must  be  warmed  by  the  dull  invisible  heat  of  a  stove. 1 


1  ["  In  1753  Pavilliard  was  living  in  17,  Rue  de  la  Cite'  derriere,  now  a  police 
station.  It  has  long  vaulted  corridors,  and  in  the  rear  wide  galleries,  with 
pillars,  commanding  a  view  of  the  lake.  The  facade  is  somewhat  changed  " 
(Read's  Hist.  Studies,  ii.,  276,  where  a  view  is  given  of  the  gallery).  In  1754 
Pavilliard  moved  to  "  the  parsonage  (since  pulled  down)  at  the  top  of  the 
Escalier  des  Grandes  Roches,  by  the  side  of  the  old  Hospital,  now  an  Industrial 
School.       It  was  at  the   bottom  of  a  narrow   court."      From   the  southern 


84  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1758 

From  a  man  I  was  again  degraded  to  the  dependence  of  a 
schoolboy.  Mr.  Pavilliard  managed  my  expenses,  which  had 
been  reduced  to  a  diminutive  state  :  I  received  a  small 
monthly  allowance  for  my  pocket-money  ;  and  helpless  and 
awkward  as  I  have  ever  been,  I  no  longer  enjoyed  the  indis- 
pensable comfort  of  a  servant.1  My  condition  seemed  as 
destitute  of  hope  as  it  was  devoid  of  pleasure  :  I  was  separated 
for  an  indefinite,  which  appeared  an  infinite  term  from  my 
native  country  ;  and  I  had  lost  all  connexion  with  my  Catholic 
friends.  I  have  since  reflected  with  surprise,  that  as  the 
Romish  clergy  of  every  part  of  Europe  maintain  a  close 
correspondence  with  each  other,  they  never  attempted,  by 
lettei's  or  messages,  to  rescue  me  from  the  hands  of  the 
heretics,  or  at  least  to  confirm  my  zeal  and  constancy  in  the 
profession  of  the  faith.  Such  was  my  first  introduction  to 
Lausanne  ;  a  place  where  I  spent  nearly  five  years  with 
pleasure  and  profit,  which  I  afterwards  revisited  without 
compulsion,  and  which  I  have  finally  selected  as  the  most 
grateful  retreat  for  the  decline  of  my  life. 

But  it  is  the  peculiar  felicity  of  youth  that  the  most 
unpleasing  objects  and  events  seldom  make  a  deep  or  lasting 
impression ;  it  forgets  the  past,  enjoys  the  present,  and 
anticipates  the  future.'-  At  the  flexible  age  of  sixteen  I  soon 
learned  to  endure,  and  gradually  to  adopt,  the  new  forms  of 

windows  there  was  "a  full  view  of  the  city  below,  with  the  lake  and  the 
mountains  of  Savoy"  (ii.,  p.   274). 

Gibbon  mentions  {post,  p.  117)  "  the  uncleanly  avarice  of  Madame  Pavilliard". 
"  I  was  almost  starved  there  with  cold  and  hunger,"  he  wrote  thirty  years  later 
(Misc.   Works,  ii.,  343  ;  see  also  Auto,,  pp.  131,  230). 

Deyverdun  recorded  in  his  Diary  in  1754  :  "  M.  Pavilliard,  the  most  honest 
man  in  everyway  that  I  know  ;  he  is  so  honest  that  he  injures  his  own  affairs  " 
(Read's  Hist.  Studies,  ii.,  303).] 

1  ["  Mr.  Gibbon,"  wrote  Malone,  "  is  so  exceedingly  indolent  that  he  never 
even  pares  his  nails.  His  servant,  while  Gibbon  is  reading,  takes  up  one  of  his 
hands,  and  when  he  has  performed  the  operation  lays  it  down,  and  then 
manages  the  other — the  patient  in  the  meanwhile  scarcely  knowing  what  is 
going  on,  and  quietly  pursuing  his  studies  "  (Prior's  Malone,  p.  382). 

Before  he  returned  home  he  was  allowed  a  servant.  In  a  letter  to  Mile. 
Curchod  he  speaks  of  "mon  valet"  (Le  Salon  de  Madame  Necker,  par  Le 
Vicomte  d'Haussonville,  1882,  i.,  41).] 

2  [This  paragraph  is  made  of  two ;  of  which  the  latter  runs  :  ' '  The  lively 
and  flexible  character  of  youth  forgets,"  etc.  (Auto.,  pp.  133,  231).] 


1753]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  85 

arbitrary  manners  :  the  real  hardships  of  my  situation  were 
alienated  by  time.  Had  I  been  sent  abroad  in  a  more 
splendid  style,  such  as  the  fortune  and  bounty  of  my  father 
might  have  supplied,  I  might  have  returned  home  with  the 
same  stock  of  language  and  science  as  our  countrymen  usually 
import  from  the  Continent.1  An  exile  and  a  prisoner  as  I 
was,  their  example  betrayed  me  into  some  irregularities  of 
wine,  of  play,  and  of  idle  excursions  2  :  but  I  soon  felt  the 
impossibility  of  associating  with  them  on  equal  terms  ;  and 
after  the  departure  of  my  first  acquaintance,  I  held  a  cold 
and  civil  correspondence  with  their  successors.  This  seclusion 
from  English  society  was  attended  with  the  most  solid 
benefits.  In  the  Pays  de  Vaud,  the  French  language  is  used 
with  less  imperfection  than  in  most  of  the  distant  provinces 
of  France  :  in  Pavilliard's  family,  necessity  compelled  me  to 
listen  and  to  speak ;  and  if  I  was  at  first  disheartened  by  the 
apparent  slowness,  in  a  few  months  I  was  astonished  by  the 
rapidity  of  my  progress.  My  pronunciation  was  formed  by 
the  constant  repetition  of  the  same  sounds  ;  the  variety  of 
words  and  idioms,  the  rules  of  grammar,  and  distinctions  of 
genders,  were  impressed  in  my  memory  :  ease  and  freedom 
were  obtained  by  practice ;  correctness  and  elegance  by 
labour ;  and  before  I  was  recalled  home,  French,  in  which  I 
spontaneously  thought,  was  more  familiar  than  English  to  my 
ear,  my  tongue,  and  my  pen.  The  first  effect  of  this  opening 
knowledge  was  the  revival  of  my  love  of  reading,  which  had 
been  chilled  at  Oxford  ;  and  I  soon  turned  over,  without  much 
choice,  almost  all  the  French  books  in  my  tutor's  library. 
Even  these  amusements  were  productive  of  real  advantage  : 
my    taste  and  judgment  were  now  somewhat  riper.     I  was 


i[/W,  p.  166.] 

2 [Pavilliard  wrote  to  Mrs.  Gibbon  on  Jan.  28,  1755:  "His  behaviour  has 
been  very  regular,  and  has  made  no  slips,  except  that  of  gaming  twice,  and 
losing  much  more  than  I  desired"  (Misc.  Works,  i. ,  86).  He  was  swindled 
of  a  hundred  and  ten  guineas  in  two  days'  play  by  an  Englishman  named  Gee. 
from  whom  he  bought  a  horse,  resolving  to  return  to  London  in  hopes  of  raising 
the  money  there.  At  Geneva  Pavilliard  overtook  him,  and  brought  him  back 
to  Lausanne  (Corres.,  i.,  3).] 


86  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1753-55 

introduced  to  a  new  mode  of  style  and  literature  :  by  the 
comparison  of  manners  and  opinions,  my  views  were  enlarged, 
my  prejudices  were  corrected,  and  a  copious  voluntary  abstract 
of  the  Histoire  de  PEglise  et  de  F Empire,  by  le  Sueur,1  may  be 
placed  in  a  middle  line  between  my  childish  and  my  manly 
studies.  As  soon  as  I  was  able  to  converse  with  the  natives, 
I  began  to  feel  some  satisfaction  in  their  company ;  my 
awkward  timidity  was  polished  and  emboldened ;  and  I 
frequented,  for  the  first  time,  assemblies  of  men  and  women. 
The  acquaintance  of  the  Pavilliards  prepared  me  by  degrees 
for  more  elegant  society.  I  was  received  with  kindness  and 
indulgence  in  the  best  families  of  Lausanne  2 ;  and  it  was  in 
one  of  these  that  I  formed  an  intimate  and  lasting  connection 
with  Mr.  Deyverdun,  a  young  man  of  an  amiable  temper  and 
excellent  understanding.3  In  the  arts  of  fencing  and  dancing, 
small  indeed  was  my  proficiency  ;  and  some  months  were  idly 
wasted  in  the  riding-school.4  My  unfitness  to  bodily  exercise 
reconciled  me  to  a  sedentary  life,  and  the  horse,  the  favourite 


1  [' '  Histoire  de  V Eglise  et  de  V Empire,  etc.,  par  Jean  le  Sueur  a  Geneve  1674. 
It  was  reprinted  with  a  continuation  by  Benedict  Pictet  in  1730-32"  [The 
Decline,  ed.  Milman,  1854,  i.,  44,  «.).] 

2  [He  wrote  to  his  aunt  in  1755  :  "I  can  say  upon  the  whole,  without  vanity, 
that  though  I  am  the  Englishman  here  who  spends  the  least  money,  I  am  he 
who  is  the  most  generally  liked  "  [Carres.,  i. ,  8).] 

s["  In  the  garrets  of  La  Grotte  "  (Gibbon's  Lausanne  house),  writes  General 
Read,  "  I  came  upon  the  hitherto  unknown  portraits  of  Gibbon  and  Deyverdun, 
attached  to  each  other  by  a  ribbon  in  the  form  of  a  bow.  In  early  life  Gibbon 
had  red  hair.  This  tint  appears  through  the  powder  in  the  picture.  His  hair 
preserved  at  Sheffield  Place,  cut  off  after  death,  is  a  deep  chestnut,  the  hue  that 
auburn  hair  often  assumes  in  later  life  ;  it  is  also  coarse,  and  displays  here  and 
there  silver  lines.  A  lock  in  the  possession  of  M.  de  Severy  of  Mex,  cut  off  at  an 
early  period,  confirms  the  portrait.  In  the  picture  the  eyes  are  large  and  dark 
and  grey,  unlike  the  light  orbs  painted  by  Sir  Joshua.  There  is  a  fine  reddish 
colour  in  the  lips  and  cheeks"  [Hist.  Studies,  ii. ,  360).  The  two  portraits  are 
given  as  frontispieces  to  the  two  volumes.  For  an  account  of  Deyverdun  and 
his  family  see  ib. ,  ii.,  292.] 

4 [Eliot  wrote  from  Lausanne  in  1746:  "The  Dancing  Master  has  six 
shillings  a  month,  the  Fencing  Master  has  the  same.  The  Riding  Master  has 
three  guineas  the  first  month  and  two  afterwards"  (Read's  Hist.  Studies,  ii. , 
271).  Gibbon  was  never,  he  says,  "  promoted  to  the  use  of  stirrups  or  spurs  ' 
{.into.,  p.  236).  He  must  have  learnt  to  ride  in  the  Militia.  When  merely  a 
captain,  he  often  "exercised  the  battalion  in  the  absence  of  the  two  field 
officers".  Later  on  he  became  Major  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Commandant 
(pus/,  p.  168).] 


1753-55]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  87 

of  my  countrymen,  never  contributed  to  the  pleasures  of  my 
youth.1 

My  obligations  to  the  lessons  of  Mr.  Pavilliard,  gratitude 
will  not  suffer  me  to  forget  :  he  was  endowed  with  a  clear 
head  and  a  warm  heart ;  his  innate  benevolence  had  assuaged 
the  spirit  of  the  church  ;  he  was  rational,  because  he  was 
moderate  :  in  the  course  of  his  studies  he  had  acquired  a  just 
though  superficial  knowledge  of  most  branches  of  literature  ; 
by  long  practice,  he  was  skilled  in  the  arts  of  teaching  ;  and 
he  laboured  with  assiduous  patience  to  know  the  character, 
gain  the  affection,  and  open  the  mind  of  his  English  pupil. 
As  soon  as  we  began  to  understand  each  other,  he  gently  led 
me,  from  a  blind  and  undistinguishing  love  of  reading,  into 
the  path  of  instruction.  I  consented  with  pleasure  that  a 
portion  of  the  morning  hours  should  be  consecrated  to  a  plan 
of  modern  history  and  geography,  and  to  the  critical  perusal 
of  the  French  and  Latin  classics ;  and  at  each  step  I  felt 
myself  invigorated  by  the  habits  of  application  and  method. 
His  prudence  repressed  and  dissembled  some  youthful  sallies  ; 
and  as  soon  as  I  was  confirmed  in  the  habits  of  industry  and 
temperance,  he  gave  the  reins  into  my  own  hands.  His 
favourable  report  of  my  behaviour  and  progress  gradually 
obtained  some  latitude  of  action  and  expence  ;  and  he  wished 
to  alleviate  the  hardships  of  my  lodging  and  entertainment. 
The  principles  of  philosophy  were  associated  with  the  exam- 
ples of  taste  ;  and  by  a  singular  chance,  the  book,  as  well  as 
the  man,  which  contributed  the  most  effectually  to  my 
education,  has  a  stronger  claim  on  my  gratitude  than  on  my 
admiration.  Mr.  De  Crousaz,  the  adversary  of  Bayle  and 
Pope,2  is  not  distinguished  by  lively  fancy  or  profound  reflec- 

J[His  contempt  for  the  chase  he  shows  in  The  Decline,  iii.,  135.  After 
describing  Gratian's  skill  in  exercises  he  continues:  "These  qualifications, 
which  might  be  useful  to  a  soldier,  were  prostituted  to  the  viler  purposes  of 
hunting".  In  a  later  passage  he  writes  :  "  The  Caledonian  hunt  is  a  picture 
of  savage  life  (Ovid,  Meta.,  viii.).  Thirty  or  forty  heroes  were  leagued  against 
a  hog ;  the  brutes  (not  the  hog)  quarrelled  with  a  lady  for  the  head  "  (id.,  iv. , 

3i°)-] 

2  [It   was   Pope's   Essay  on  Man   that   Crousaz   attacked.      According   to 

Warburton  he  had  trusted  Resnel's  translation,  who  often  did  not  understand 
the  English.     Thus  Pope's  lines  (i. ,  277-78) — 


88  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1753-55 

tion ;  and  even  in  his  own  country,  at  the  end  of  a  few  years, 
his  name  and  writings  are  almost  obliterated.  But  his 
philosophy  had  been  formed  in  the  school  of  Locke,  his 
divinity  in  that  of  Limborch  *  and  Le  Clerc ;  in  a  long  and 
laborious  life,  several  generations  of  pupils  were  taught  to 
think,  and  even  to  write  ;  his  lessons  rescued  the  academy  of 
Lausanne  from  Calvinistic  prejudice  ;  and  he  had  the  rare 
merit  of  diffusing  a  more  liberal  spirit  among  the  clergy  and 
people  of  the  Pays  de  Vaud.  His  system  of  logic,  which  in 
the  last  editions  has  swelled  to  six  tedious  and  prolix  volumes, 
may  be  praised  as  a  clear  and  methodical  abridgment  of  the 
art  of  reasoning,  from  our  simple  ideas  to  the  most  complex 
operations  of  the  human  understanding.  This  system  I 
studied,  and  meditated,  and  abstracted,  till  I  have  obtained 
the  free  command  of  an  universal  instrument,  which  I  soon 
presumed  to  exercise  on  my  Catholic  opinions.  Pavilliard 
was  not  unmindful  that  his  first  task,  his  most  important 
duty,  was  to  reclaim  me  from  the  errors  of  popery.  The 
intermixture  of  sects  has  rendered  the  Swiss  clergy  acute  and 
learned  on  the  topics  of  controversy  ;  and  I  have  some  of  his 
letters  in  which  he  celebrates  the  dexterity  of  his  attack,  and 


"As  full,  as  perfect  in  vile  man  that  mourns 
As  the  rapt  seraph  that  adores  and  burns  ' ' 

are  translated  : — 

"  Dans  un  homme  ignore^  sous  une  humble  chaumiere, 
Que  dans  le  seraphin,  rayonnant  de  lumiere  ". 

On  this  Crousaz  remarked  :  "  For  all  that,  we  sometimes  find  in  persons  of 
the  lowest  rank  a  fund  of  probity  and  resignation  which  preserves  them  from 
contempt  "  (Elwin's  Pope,  ii.,  502).  Voltaire  describes  him  as  "  le  philosophe 
le  moins  philosophe,  et  le  bavard  le  plus  bavard  des  Allemands  "  (CEuvres  de 

Voltaire,  xlvii.,  551).  He  allowed,  however,  that  in  one  part  of  his  argument  he 
convicted  Pope  of  error  (id.,  x.,  125).  Crousaz  was  not  a  German,  but  a  native 
of  Lausanne.      See   also  Boswell's  Johnson,  L,    157;    v.    80;    and  Johnson's 

Works,  v.,  202;  viii.,  287,  289.] 

J[  Gibbon  recorded  in  1762  :  "  I  resolved  to  substitute  for  my  leisure  hours 
the  Bibliotheque  of  Le  Clerc,  as  an  inexhaustible  source  of  amusement  and 
instruction.  .  .  .  The  second  volume  contains,  pp.  20-51,  P.  Limborchi 
Theologia  Christiana.  Moderate  and  judicious,  the  general  character  of  the 
Arminian  divines"  (Misc.   Works,  v.,  224,  227). 

Voltaire  (CEuvres,  xlii.,  236),  describing  Limborch's  controversy  with  a 
learned  rabbi,  says :  "  C'est  peut-etre  la  premiere  dispute  entre  deux  th£ologiens 
dans  laquelle  on  ne  se  soit  pas  dit  des  injures  ".] 


1753-55]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  89 

my  gradual  concessions  after  a  firm  and  well-managed  defence.1 
I  was  willing,  and  I  am  now  willing,  to  allow  him  a  handsome 
share  of  the  honour  of  my  conversion ;  yet  I  must  observe, 
that  it  was  principally  effected  by  my  private  reflections 2 ; 
and  I  still  remember  my  solitary  transport  at  the  discovery  of 
a  philosophical  argument  against  the  doctrine  of  transubstantia- 
tion  :  that  the  text  of  scripture,  which  seems  to  inculcate  the 
real  presence,  is  attested  only  by  a  single  sense — our  sight  ; 
while  the  real  presence  itself  is  disproved  by  three  of  our 
senses — the  sight,  the   touch,  and  the   taste.3      The  various 


1  M.  Pavilliard  has  described  to  me  the  astonishment  with  which  he  gazed 
on  Mr.  Gibbon  standing  before  him  :  a  thin  little  figure,  with  a  large  head, 
disputing  and  urging,  with  the  greatest  ability,  all  the  best  arguments  that  had 
ever  been  used  in  favour  of  popery.  Mr.  Gibbon  many  years  ago  became  very 
fat  and  corpulent,  but  he  had  uncommonly  small  bones,  and  was  very  slight 
made.— Sheffield. 

[Pavilliard  wrote  to  Gibbon's  father  on  June  26,  1754:  "  Je  croyais  de 
semaine  en  semaine  pouvoir  vous  annoncer  que  Monsieur  votre  fils  avait 
entierement  renonce'  aux  fausses  idees  qu'il  avait  embrassees  ;  mais  il  a  fallu 
disputer  le  terrain  pied  a  pied,  et  je  n'ai  pas  trouve'  en  lui  un  homrae  leger,  et 
qui  passe  rapidement  d'un  sentiment  a  un  autre.  .  .  .  Je  dois  vous  dire  encore 
que,  quoique  j'ai  trouve'  M.  votre  fils  tres  ferme  dans  ses  idees,  je  l'ai  trouv£ 
raisonnable,  qu'il  s'est  rendu  a  la  lumiere,  et  qu'il  n'est  pas,  ce  qu'on  appelle, 
chicaneur  "  [Misc.   Works,  i.,  82). 

"  Mme  Bugnion,  who  died  about  1830  at  the  age  of  ninety-one,  related  to 
her  grandchildren  that  she  attended  the  catechism  taught  by  M.  Pavilliard,  and 
that  Gibbon  was  present.  The  ordinary  age  of  admission  for  such  instruction 
was  from  fourteen  to  sixteen  "  (Read's  Hist.  Studies,  ii.,  276).] 

2 ["Chez  Gibbon  tout  s'^tait  pass6  dans  la  tete  et  dans  le  champ-clos  de  la 
dialectique ;  un  raisonnement  lui  avait  apport£  son  nouveau  symbole,  et  un 
autre  raisonnement  le  remporta.  II  pouvait  se  dire,  pour  sa  propre  satisfaction, 
qu'il  ne  devait  l'un  et  l'autre  changement  qu'a  sa  lecture  ou  a  sa  meditation 
solitaire.  Plus  tard,  quand  il  se  flattait  d'etre  tout  a  fait  impartial  et  indifferent 
sur  les  croyances,  il  est  permis  de  supposer  que,  meme  sans  se  l'avouer,  il 
nourrissait  contre  la  pensee  religieuse  une  secrete  et  froide  rancune  comme 
envers  un  adversaire  qui  vous  a  un  jour  atteint  au  deTaut  de  la  cuirasse,  et  qui 
vous  a  blesse"  "  (Causeries  du  Lundi,  viii. ,  438).] 

3  [Tillotson  had  anticipated  him  in  this  argument  in  his  Sermons  preached 
upon  Several  Occasions,  ed.  1673,  p.  316,  where  he  says:  "Supposing  the 
Scripture  to  be  a  Divine  Revelation,  and  that  these  words  {This  is  My  Body), 
if  they  be  in  Scripture,  must  necessarily  be  taken  in  the  strict  and  literal  sense, 
I  ask  now,  What  greater  evidence  any  man  has  that  these  words  ( This  is  My 
Body)  are  in  the  Bible  than  every  man  has  that  the  bread  is  not  changed  in  the 
sacrament  ?  Nay,  no  man  has  so  much,  for  we  have  only  the  evidence  of  one 
sense  that  these  words  are  in  the  Bible,  but  that  the  bread  is  not  changed  we 
have  the  concurring  testimony  of  several  of  our  senses."  Hume  speaks  of  it  as 
' '  an  argument  against  the  real  presence,  which  is  as  concise  and  elegant  and 
strong  as  any  argument  can  possibly  be  supposed  against  a  doctrine  so  little 
worthy  of  a  serious  reputation"  (Hume's  Essays,  ed.  1770,  iii.,  153).  Johnson 
quotes  it  with  approval  (BoswelFs  Johnson,  v.,  71).] 


90  EDWARD  GIBBON  ]  1753-55 

articles  of  the  Romish  creed  disappeared  like  a  dream  ;  and 
after  a  full  conviction,  on  Christmas-day,  1754,  I  received  the 
sacrament  in  the  church  of  Lausanne.  It  was  here  that  I 
suspended  my  religious  inquiries,  acquiescing  with  implicit 
belief  in  the  tenets  and  mysteries,  which  are  adopted  by  the 
general  consent  of  Catholics  and  Protestants.1 

Such,  from  my  arrival  at  Lausanne,  during  the  first  eighteen 
or  twenty  months  (July  1753 — March  1755),  were  my  useful 
studies,  the  foundation  of  all  my  future  improvements.  But 
every  man  who  rises  above  the  common  level  has  received  two 
educations  :  the  first  from  his  teachers ;  the  second,  more 
persona]  and  important,  from  himself.  He  will  not,  like  the 
fanatics  of  the  last  age,  define  the  moment  of  grace  ;  but  he 
cannot  forget  the  era  of  his  life,  in  which  his  mind  has  ex- 
panded to  its  proper  form  and  dimensions.  My  worthy  tutor 
had  the  good  sense  and  modesty  to  discern  how  far  he  could 
be  useful  :  as  soon  as  he  felt  that  I  advanced  beyond  his  speed 
and  measure,  he  wisely  left  me  to  my  genius ;  and  the  hours 
of  lesson  were  soon  lost  in  the  voluntary  labour  of  the  whole 
morning,  and  sometimes  of  the  whole  day.  The  desire  of 
prolonging  my  time,  gradually  confirmed  the  salutary  habit 
of  early  rising,  to  which  I  have  always  adhered,  with  some 
regard  to  seasons  and  situations  ;  but  it  is  happy  for  my  eyes 
and  my  health,  that  my  temperate  ardour  has  never  been 
seduced  to  trespass  on  the  hours  of  the  night.  During  the 
last  three  years  of  my  residence  at  Lausanne,  I  may  assume 
the  merit  of  serious  and  solid  application  ;  but  I  am  tempted 
to  distinguish  the  last  eight  months  of  the  year  1755,  as  the 
period  of  the  most  extraordinary  diligence  and  rapid  progress. 
In  my  French  and  Latin  translations  I  adopted  an  excellent 
method,  which,  from  my  own  success,  I  would  recommend  to 
the  imitation  of  students.  I  chose  some  classic  writer,  such 
as   Cicero   and  Vertot,'2  the  most    approved  for    purity   and 

1  [See  Appendix  19.] 

2  [It  was  probably  Vertot's  involutions  de  la  Republique  Romaine  that 
Gibbon  thus  treated.  See  Misc.  Works,  v.,  509,  for  a  criticism  of  this  book, 
and  id.,  p.  389,  where  he  describes  Vertot  as  "an  author  whose  works  are  read 
with  the  same  pleasure  as  romances,  to  which  in  other  respects  they  bear  too 


17.53-55]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  91 

elegance  of  style.  I  translated,  for  instance,  an  epistle  of 
Cicero  into  French ;  and  after  throwing  it  aside,  till  the 
words  and  phrases  were  obliterated  from  my  memory,  I  re- 
translated my  French  into  such  Latin  as  I  could  find  ;  and 
then  compared  each  sentence  of  my  imperfect  version,  with 
the  ease,  the  grace,  the  propriety  of  the  Roman  orator.  A 
similar  experiment  was  made  on  several  pages  of  the  Revolu- 
tions of  Vertot;  I  turned  them  into  Latin,  returned  them 
after  a  sufficient  interval  into  my  own  French,  and  again 
scrutinized  the  resemblance  or  dissimilitude  of  the  copy  and  the 
original.  By  degrees  I  was  less  ashamed,  by  degrees  I  was 
more  satisfied  with  myself;  and  I  persevered  in  the  practice 
of  these  double  translations,  which  filled  several  books,  till  I 
had  acquired  the  knowledge  of  both  idioms,  and  the  command 
at  least  of  a  correct  style.1  This  useful  exercise  of  writing 
was  accompanied  and  succeeded  by  the  more  pleasing  occupa- 
tion of  reading  the  best  authors.  The  perusal  of  the  Roman 
classics  was  at  once  my  exercise  and  reward.  Dr.  Middleton's 
History,  which  I  then  appreciated  above  its  true  value,  natur- 
ally directed  me  to  the  writings  of  Cicero.2  The  most  perfect 
editions,  that  of  Olivet,3  which  may  adorn  the  shelves  of  the 

much  resemblance".  In  The  Decline,  vii.,  27,  he  points  out  that  "Vertot 
betrays  his  ignorance  in  supposing  that  Othman,  a  freebooter  of  the  Bithynian 
hills,  could  besiege  Rhodes  by  sea  and  land  ".] 

1  ["  II  (Gibbon)  se  rompit  a  ecrire  correctement  tant  en  francais  qu'en  latin, 
et  en  acquerant  une  egale  facilite  a  s'exprimer  en  diverses  langues,  il  perdit 
moins  une  originalite  d'expression  pour  laquelle  il  semblait  peu  fait,  qu'il 
n'acquit  l'elegance,  la  lumiere  et  la  clarte  qui  deviendront  ses  merites  habituels  " 
(Causeries  du  Lundi,  viii. ,  442).  In  clearness  Gibbon  sometimes  fails,  not 
perhaps  in  his  Autobiography,  but  in  his  History.  His  unwillingness  to  repeat  a 
name,  and  his  aim  at  effect  too  often  make  his  meaning  doubtful  at  the  first 
reading.] 

2 [Horace  Walpole  wrote  from  Florence  on  March  25,  1741  :  "I  wait  with 
some  patience  to  see  Dr.  Middleton's  Tully,  as  I  read  the  greatest  part  of  it  in 
manuscript ;  though  indeed  that  is  rather  a  reason  for  my  being  impatient  to 
read  the  rest.  If  Tully  can  receive  any  additional  honour,  Dr.  Middleton  is 
most  capable  of  giving  it  "  (Walpole's  Letters,  i.,  67.     Ante,  p.  67).] 

3  [Voltaire,  mentioning  him  in  his  Steele  de  Louis XIV,  says:  "Son  age  et 
son  merite  sont  notre  excuse  de  l'avoir  place,  ainsi  que  le  pr&ident  H^nault, 
dans  une  liste  ou  nous  nous  etions  fait  une  loi  de  ne  parler  que  des  morts  " 
((Euvres  de  J  roltaire,  xvii. ,  80).  D'Alembert  wrote  of  him  to  Voltaire  :  ' '  C'dtait 
un  passable  academicien,  mais  un  bien  mauvais  confrere,  qui  hai'ssait  tout  le 
monde,  et  qui,  entre  nous,  ne  vous  aimait  pas  plus  qu'un  autre"  (id.,  lxii., 
467)-] 


92  EDWAED  GIBBON  [1753-55 

rich,  that  of  Ernesti,1  which  should  lie  on  the  table  of  the 
learned,  were  not  in  my  power.*2  For  the  familiar  epistles  I 
used  the  text  and  English  commentary  of  Bishop  Ross  3  ;  but 
my  general  edition  was  that  of  Verburgius,  published  at 
Amsterdam  in  two  large  volumes  in  folio,  with  an  indifferent 
choice  of  various  notes.  I  read,  with  application  and  pleasure, 
all  the  epistles,  all  the  orations,  and  the  most  important  trea- 
tises of  rhetoric  and  philosophy ;  and  as  I  read,  I  applauded 
the  observation  of  Quintilian,  that  every  student  may  judge 
of  his  own  proficiency,  by  the  satisfaction  which  he  receives 
from  the  Roman  orator.4  I  tasted  the  beauties  of  language, 
I  breathed  the  spirit  of  freedom,  and  I  imbibed  from  his  pre- 
cepts and  examples  the  public  and  private  sense  of  a  man. 
Cicero  in  Latin,  and  Xenophon  5  in  Greek,  are  indeed  the  two 
ancients  whom  I  would  first  propose  to  a  liberal  scholar ;  not 
only  for  the  merit  of  their  style  and  sentiments,  but  for  the 
admirable  lessons,  which  may  be  applied  almost  to  every 
situation  of  public  and  private  life.  Cicero's  epistles  may  in 
particular  afford  the  models  of  every  form  of  correspondence, 
from  the  careless  effusions  of  tenderness  and  friendship,  to 
the  well-guarded  declaration  of  discreet  and  dignified  resent- 
ment. After  finishing  this  great  author,  a  library  of  eloquence 
and  reason,  I  formed  a  more  extensive  plan  of  reviewing  the 
Latin  classics,0   under  the   four  divisions  of,    1 .    historians,  2. 

1  [Published  in  1737-39-] 

2  [In  the  second  edition  Lord  Sheffield  changed  this  into  "were  not  within 
my  reach"  {Misc.   Works,  i. ,  89).] 

3  [John  Ross  published  Cicero's  Epistola  ad  Familiares  in  1749.  He  was 
made  Bishop  of  Exeter  in  1778.] 

4["  Quare  non  immerito  ab  hominibus  setatis  suas  regnare  in  judiciis  dictus 
est,  apud  posteros  vero  id  consecutus,  ut  Cicero  jam  non  hominis  nomen  sed 
eloquentise  habeatur.  Hunc  igitur  spectemus,  hoc  propositum  nobis  sit 
exemplum,  ille  se  profecisse  sciat,  cui  Cicero  valde  placebit "  {Inst.  Orator., 
x.,  i.,  112).] 

'"[Post,  p.  184.] 

6  Journal,  January  1756.  I  determined  to  read  over  the  Latin  authors  in 
order;  and  read  this  year,  Virgil,  Sallust,  Livy,  Velleius  Paterculus,  Valerius 
Maximus,  Tacitus,  Suetonius,  Quintus  Curtius,  Justin,  Floras,  Plautus, 
Terence,  and  Lucretius.  I  also  read  and  meditated  Locke  upon  the  Under- 
standing.—Gibbon.  [It  was  on  January  19,  1756,  that  he  formed  this  de- 
termination {Misc.  Works,  iii. ,  Preface,  p.  4).  The  record  of  the  year's  work 
must  have  been  made  in  January,  1757.] 


1756-58]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  93 

poets,  8.  orators,  and  4.  philosophers,  in  a  chronological  series, 
from  the  clays  of  Plautus  and  Sallust,  to  the  decline  of  the 
language  and  empire  of  Rome  :  and  this  plan,  in  the  last 
twenty-seven  months  of  my  residence  at  Lausanne  (January 
1756 — April  1758),  I  wra/-/// accomplished.  Nor  was  this  re- 
view, however  rapid,  either  hasty  or  superficial.  I  indulged 
myself  in  a  second  and  even  a  third  perusal  of  Terence,  Virgil, 
Horace,  Tacitus,  etc.,  and  studied  to  imbibe  the  sense  and 
spirit  most  congenial  to  my  own.  I  never  suffered  a  difficult 
or  corrupt  passage  to  escape,  till  I  had  viewed  it  in  every  light 
of  which  it  was  susceptible  :  though  often  disappointed,  I 
always  consulted  the  most  learned  or  ingenious  commentators, 
Torrentius  and  Dacier  on  Horace,  Catrou l  and  Servius  on 
Virgil,  Lipsius  on  Tacitus,  Meziriac  on  Ovid,2  etc.  ;  and  in 
the  ardour  of  my  inquiries,  I  embraced  a  large  circle  of 
historical  and  critical  erudition.  My  abstracts  of  each  book 
were  made  in  the  French  language  :  my  observations  often 
branched  into  particular  essays  ;  and  I  can  still  read,  without 
contempt,3  a  dissertation  of  eight  folio  pages  on  eight  lines 
(287-294)  of  the  fourth  Georgic  of  Virgil.  Mr.  Deyverdun, 
my  friend,  whose  name  will  be  frequently  repeated,  had  joined 
with  equal  zeal,  though  not  with  equal  perseverance,  in  the 
same  undertaking.  To  him  evei-y  thought,  every  composition 
was  instantly  communicated  ;  with  him  I  enjoyed  the  benefits 
of  a  free  conversation  on  the  topics  of  our  common  studies.4 

1["  Catrou  (Francois),  n6  en  1659,  j^suite.  II  a  fait  avec  le  pere  Rouille 
vingt  tomes  de  V Histoire  romaine.  lis  ont  cherch6  l'^loquence,  et  n'ont  pas 
trouve'  la  precision  "  (CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  xvii.,  62).] 

2 [Gibbon,  in  the  record  of  his  studies  in  1762,  says:  "I  consulted 
Meziriac's  Ovid,  in  relation  to  the  omens  from  the  flight  of  birds.  From  the 
materials  which  he  laid  before  me  I  conceived  a  much  clearer  notion  of  the 
subject  than  he  had  himself"  (Misc.  W  orks,  v.,  219).] 

3  [In  one  of  his  Memoirs  he  uses  these  words  very  condescendingly.  Speak- 
ing of  the  Arabian  Nights  he  says  :  "  In  my  present  maturity  I  can  revolve  with- 
out contempt  that  pleasing  medley  of  Oriental  manners  and  supernatural 
fictions"  (Auto.,  p.  118).  Perhaps  Gibbon  remembered  that  Chesterfield, 
among  "the  frivolous  and  idle  books"  which  his  son  should  avoid,  had 
mentioned  "the  Oriental  ravings  and  extravagancies  of  the  Arabian  Nights" 
(Letters  to  his  Son,  ii. ,  335). 

For  the  dissertation  on  Virgil  see  Misc.   Works,  iv. ,  446.  ] 

4 [General  Read,  who  found  Gibbon's  "diploma  as  a  Master  Mason", 
describes  him  and  Deyverdun  as  "earnest  Masons  ".     Gibbon  became  a  Free- 


94  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1756-58 

But  it  is  scarcely  possible  for  a  mind  endowed  with  any 
active  curiosity  to  be  long  conversant  with  the  Latin  classics, 
without  aspiring  to  know  the  Greek  originals,  whom  they 
celebrate  as  their  masters,  and  of  whom  they  so  warmly 
recommend  the  study  and  imitation  ; 

Vos  exemplaria  Graeca 


Nocturna  versate  manu,  versate  diurna.1 

It  was  now  that  I  regretted  the  early  years  which  had 
been  wasted  in  sickness  or  idleness,  or  more  2  idle  reading  ; 
that  I  condemned  the  perverse  method  of  our  schoolmasters, 
who,  by  first  teaching  the  mother-language,  might  descend 
with  so  much  ease  and  perspicuity  to  the  origin  and  etymo- 
logy of  a  derivative  idiom.3  In  the  nineteenth  year  of  my 
age  I  determined  to  supply  this  defect  ;  and  the  lessons  of 
Pavilliard  again  contributed  to  smooth  the  entrance  of  the 
way,  the  Greek  alphabet,  the  grammar,  and  the  pronuncia- 
tion according  to  the  French  accent.  At  my  earnest  request 
we  presumed  to  open  the  Iliad  ;  and  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
beholding,  though  darkly  and  through  a  glass,4  the  true 
image  of  Homer,  whom  I  had  long  since  admired  in  an 
English  dress.  After  my  tutor  had  left  me  to  myself,  I 
worked  my  way  through  about  half  the  Iliad,  and  afterwards 
interpreted  alone  a  large  portion  of  Xenophon  and  Herodotus. 


mason  at  this  time,  induced  no  doubt  by  his  friend  and  his  friend's  uncle 
(Hist.  Studies,  ii. ,  297,  367).  That  he  was  "  earnest  "  there  is  nothing  to  show, 
and  is  inconsistent  with  his  character,  unless  with  the  character  of  his  early 
youth.     He  never  mentions  the  Society  in  his  writings,  so  far  as  I  know.] 

1  [Make  the  Greek  authors  your  supreme  delight, 
Read  them  by  day,  and  study  them  by  night. 

(Francis'  Horace,  De  Arte  Poetica,  1.  268.)] 

2  [In  Lord  Sheffield's  editions,  mere.] 

3  ["The  Greek  seems  to  be,  in  a  great  measure,  a  simple,  uncompounded 
language,  formed  from  the  primitive  jargon  of  those  wandering  savages,  the 
ancient  Hellenians  and  Pelasgians.  .  .  .  The  Latin  is  a  composition  of  the 
Greek  and  of  the  ancient  Tuscan  languages"  (Adam  Smith,  Formation  of 
Languages.     Theory  of  Moral  Sentiments ,  ed.  1801,  ii. ,  383). 

While  Gibbon  was  writing  his  Autobiography,  Sir  William  Jones  was  teach- 
ing in  India  "  that  no  philologer  could  examine  Sanscrit,  Greek,  and  Latin 
without  believing  them  to  have  sprung  from  some  common  source,  which 
perhaps  no  longer  exists  "  (Life  of  Jones,  ed.  1815,  p.  468).] 

4  ["  For  now  we  see  through  a  glass,  darkly  "  (1  Cor .  xiii.  12).] 


1756-58]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  95 

But  my  ardour,  destitute  of  aid  and  emulation,  was  gradually 
cooled,  and,  from  the  barren  task  of  searching  words  in  a 
lexicon,  I  withdrew  to  the  free  and  familiar  conversation  of 
Virgil  and  Tacitus.  Yet  in  my  residence  at  Lausanne  I  had 
laid  a  solid  foundation,  which  enabled  me,  in  a  more  pro- 
pitious season,  to  prosecute  the  study  of  Grecian  literature. 
From  a  blind  idea  of  the  usefulness  of  such  abstract 
science,  my  father  had  been  desirous,  and  even  pressing, 
that  I  should  devote  some  time  to  the  mathematics  ;  nor 
could  I  refuse  to  comply  with  so  reasonable  a  wish.  During 
two  winters  I  attended  the  private  lectures  of  Monsieur  de 
Traytorrens,  who  explained  the  elements  of  algebra  and 
geometry,  as  far  as  the  conic  sections  of  the  Marquis  de 
l'Hopital,1  and  appeared  satisfied  with  my  diligence  and 
improvement.  But  as  my  childish  propensity  for  numbers 
and  calculations  was  totally  extinct,2  I  was  content  to  receive 
the  passive  impression  of  my  professor's  lectures  without  any 
active  exercise  of  my  own  powers.  As  soon  as  I  understood 
the  principles,  I  relinquished  for  ever  the  pursuit  of  the 
mathematics  ; 3  nor  can  I  lament  that  I  desisted,  before  my 
mind  was  hardened  by  the  habit  of  rigid  demonstration,  so 
destructive  of  the  finer  feelings  of  moral  evidence,  which 
must,  however,  determine  the  actions  and  opinions  of  our 
lives.4  I  listened  with  more  pleasure  to  the  proposal  of 
studying  the  law  of  nature  and  nations,  which  was  taught 
in  the  academy  of  Lausanne  by  Mr.  Vicat,  a  professor  of 
some  learning  and  reputation.  But  instead  of  attending  his 
public  or  private  course,  I  preferred  in  my  closet  the  lessons 
of  his  masters,  and  my  own  reason.     Without  being  disgusted 

1  f"  L' Hospital  [Fra?icois,  marquis  de),  n€  en  1661,  le  premier  qui  ait  £crit  en 
France  sur  le  calcul  invent^  par  Newton,  qu'il  appela  les  infiniment  petits ; 
c'£tait  alors  un  prodige.     Mort  en  1704  "  (CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  xvii.,  120).] 

2  [Ante,  p.  31.] 

3  fin  1762  he  thought  of  taking  up  the  pursuit  again,  and  consulted  ' '  a  very 
able  mathematician  "  about  the  best  course  of  study  (Misc.   Works,  ii.,  44).] 

4  [J.  S.  Mill,  writing  of  the  school  logic,  continues  :  "  The  boasted  influence 
of  mathematical  studies  is  nothing  to  it ;  for  in  mathematical  processes  none  of 
the  real  difficulties  of  correct  ratiocination  occur"  (Mill's  Auto.,  ed.  1873,  p. 
19)-] 


96  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1756-58 

by  Grotius  or  PufFendorf,  I  studied  in  their  writings  the  duties 
of  a  man,  the  rights  of  a  citizen,  the  theory  of  justice  (it  is, 
alas  !  a  theory),  and  the  laws  of  peace  and  war,  which 
have  had  some  influence  on  the  practice  of  modern  Europe. 
My  fatigues  were  alleviated  by  the  good  sense  of  their 
commentator  Barbeyrac.1  Locke's  Treatise  of  Government 
instructed  me  in  the  knowledge  of  Whig  principles,  which 
are  rather  founded  in  reason  than  experience,2  but  my  delight 
was  in  the  frequent  perusal  of  Montesquieu,  whose  energy 
of  style,  and  boldness  of  hypothesis,  were  powerful  to  awaken 
and  stimulate  the  genius  of  the  age.  The  logic  of  De  Crousaz 
had  prepared  me  to  engage  with  his  master  Locke  and  his 
antagonist  Bayle  3  ;  of  whom  the  former  may  be  used  as  a 
bridle,  and  the  latter  applied  as  a  spur,  to  the  curiosity  of 
a  young  philosopher.  According  to  the  nature  of  their 
respective  works,  the  schools  of  argument  and  objection,  I 
carefully  went  through  the  Essay  on  Human  Understanding, 
and  occasionally  consulted  the  most  interesting  articles  of 
the  Philosophic  Dictionary.  In  the  infancy  of  my  reason  I 
turned  over,  as  an  idle  amusement,  the  most  serious  and 
important  treatise :  in  its  maturity,  the  most  trifling  per- 
formance could  exercise  my  taste  or  judgment,  and  more 
than   once  I   have   been   led   by   a  novel 4  into  a    deep  and 

1 [Gibbon  said  of  reading:  "This  nourishment  is  easily  converted  into 
poison.  Salmasius  had  read  as  much  as  Grotius,  perhaps  more.  But  their 
different  modes  of  reading  made  the  one  an  enlightened  philosopher,  and  the 
other,  to  speak  plainly,  a  pedant  puffed  up  with  an  useless  erudition  "  {Misc. 
Works,  v.,  209). 

"  Ce  n'est  point  assurement  l'ouvrage  immense  de  Grotius,  sur  le  droit  pr6- 
tendu  de  la  guerre  et  de  la  paix,  qui  a  rendu  les  hommes  moins  feroces  ;  ce  ne 
sont  pas  ses  citations  de  Carneade,  de  Quintilien  .  .  .  ;  ce  n'est  point  parce 
qu'apres  le  deluge  il  fut  deTendu  de  manger  les  animaux  avec  leur  ame  et  leur 
sang,  comme  le  rapporte  Barbeyrac  son  commentateur.  Ce  n'est  point,  en  un 
mot,  par  tous  les  argumens  profondement  frivoles  de  Grotius  et  de  Puffendorf," 
etc.  {CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  xii. ,  235).] 

2  [No  experience  could  teach  Gibbon.  "  With  many  a  sincere  and  silent 
vote",  session  after  session,  he  had  supported  the  Tory  ministry  in  the  war 
with  our  colonies,  and  had  done  what  he  could  to  bring  England  to  the  brink 
of  ruin  {post,  p.  191).] 

'■'  [Ante,  p.  76.] 

4  [Miss  Burney  recorded  of  her  novel  Cecilia,  on  the  authority  of  Reynolds, 
that  "  Gibbon  said  he  read  the  whole  five  volumes  in  a  day  "  (Mine.  D'Arblay's 
Diary,  ii. ,  196).] 


1756-58]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  97 

instructive  train  of  thinking.  But  I  cannot  forbear  to  men- 
tion three  particular  books,  since  they  may  have  remotely 
contributed  to  form  the  historian  of  the  Roman  empire.  I. 
From  the  Provincial  Letters  of  Pascal,  which  almost  every 
year  I  have  perused  with  new  pleasure,  I  learned  to  manage 
the  weapon  of  grave  and  temperate  irony,  even  on  subjects 
of  ecclesiastical  solemnity.1  2.  The  Life  of  Julian,  by  the 
Abbe  de  la  Bleterie,2  first  introduced  me  to  the  man  and 
the  times  ;  and  I  should  be  glad  to  recover  my  first  essay 
on  the  truth  of  the  miracle  which  stopped  the  rebuilding 
of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem.3  3.  In  Giannone's  Civil  History 
of  Naples  I  observed  with  a  critical  eye  the  progress  and 
abuse  of  sacerdotal  power,  and  the  revolutions  of  Italy  in 
the   darker  ages.4     This  various  reading,  which  I   now  con- 

1  [In  one  of  his  Memoirs  he  associates  Giannone  with  Pascal  as  his  teacher 
of  irony  (Auto.,  p.  235).] 

2  [Gibbon  recorded  in  his  journal  in  1764  :  "  The  History  of  Jovian,  and  the 
Translation  of  some  Works  of  Julian,  by  the  Abb£  de  la  Bleterie  :  admirable 
in  point  of  erudition,  taste,  elegance,  and  I  will  add,  moderation.  Julian  was 
a  Pagan,  but  the  Abbe1  hates  only  the  Jesuits"  (Misc.  Works,  v.,  463). 
Though  in  The  Decline  Gibbon  often  praises  him,  yet  in  one  passage  (ii. ,  469) 
he  speaks  of  his  "superstitious  complacency,"  and  in  another  (id.,  p.  526)  he 
blames  the  "  political  metaphysics  "  by  which  "  he  pronounced  that  Jovian  was 
not  bound  to  execute  his  promise".  Voltaire  writes  of  him  and  his  Vie  de 
Julien :  "II  n'appartient  point  a  un  pretre  d'^crire  l'histoire ;  il  faut  etre 
desinteYesse'  sur  tout,  et  un  pretre  ne  Test  sur  rien  "  (CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  xlvi., 
429).  Aiming  at  his  style  Voltaire  says:  "On  est  parvenu  jusqu'a  rendre 
Tacite  ridicule"  (id.,  xix.,  392).     See  post,  p.  306.] 

:i  [Gibbon,  after  describing  the  miracle,  adds  in  a  note:  "Dr.  Lardner, 
perhaps  alone  of  the  Christian  critics,  presumes  to  doubt  the  truth  of  this 
famous  miracle.  The  silence  of  Jerome  would  lead  to  a  suspicion  that  the 
same  story,  which  was  celebrated  at  a  distance,  might  be  despised  on  the  spot  " 
(  The  Decline,  ii. ,  460).] 

4  ["  The  subject  of  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  has  been  involved  in  a  mist  of 
passion,  of  prejudice,  and  of  interest.  Two  of  the  fairest  books  which  have 
fallen  into  my  hands  are  the  Institutes  of  Canon  Law,  by  the  Abbe  de  Fleury, 
and  the  Civil  History  of  Naples,  by  Giannone.  Their  moderation  was  the 
effect  of  situation  as  well  as  of  temper.  Fleury  was  a  French  ecclesiastic,  who 
respected  the  authority  of  the  parliaments  ;  Giannone  was  an  Italian  lawyer, 
who  dreaded  the  power  of  the  Church"  (The  Decline,  ii. ,  322). 

"  Giannone  est  le  seul  qui  ait  jete'  quelque  jour  sur  l'origine  de  la  domination 
supreme  affectee  par  les  papes  sur  le  royaume  de  Naples.  II  a  rendu  en  cela 
un  service  £ternel  aux  rois  de  ce  pays  ;  et  pour  recompense,  il  a  et6  abandonne' 
par  l'empereur  Charles  VI,  alors  roi  de  Naples,  a  la  persecution  des  j^suites ; 
trahi  depuis  par  la  plus  lache  des  perfidies,  sacrine"  a  la  cour  de  Rome,  il  a  fini 
sa  vie  dans  la  captivity  "  (CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  xxvi.,  80). 

Johnson  quotes  Giannone's  saying  to  a  monk,  "  who  wanted  what  he  called  to 
convert  him  :  '  Tu  sei  santo,  ma  tu  non  sei  filosofo '  "  (Boswell's  Johnson,  iv.,  3).] 

7 


98  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1856-58 

ducted  with  discretion,  was  digested,  according  to  the  precept 
and  model  of  Mr.  Locke,  into  a  large  common-place  book  1  ; 
a  practice,  however,  which  I  do  not  strenuously  recommend. 
The  action  of  the  pen  will  doubtless  imprint  an  idea  on  the 
mind  as  well  as  on  the  paper  :  but  I  much  question  whether 
the  benefits  of  this  laborious  method  are  adequate  to  the 
waste  of  time  ;  and  I  must  agree  with  Dr.  Johnson,  (Idler, 
No.  74)  "  that  what  is  twice  read,  is  commonly  better  re- 
membered, than  what  is  transcribed  ".2 

During  two  years,  if  I  forget  some  boyish  excursions  of  a 
day  or  a  week,  I  was  fixed  at  Lausanne  ;  but  at  the  end  of 
the  third  summer,  my  father  consented  that  I  should  make 
the  tour  of  Switzerland  with  Pavilliard  :  and  our  short  absence 
of  one  month  (September  21st — October  20th,  1755)  was  a 
reward  and  relaxation  of  my  assiduous  studies.  The  fashion 
of  climbing  the  mountains  and  viewing  3  the  Glaciers,  had  not 
yet  been  introduced  by  foreign  travellers,  who  seek  the 
sublime  beauties  of  nature.4  But  the  political  face  of  the 
country  is  not  less  diversified  by  the  forms  and  spirit  of  so 
many  various  republics,  from  the  jealous  government  of  the 
few  5  to  the  licentious  freedom  of  the  many.  I  contemplated 
with  pleasure  the  new  prospects  of  men  and  manners  ;  though 
my  conversation  with  the  natives  would  have  been  more  free 


1  [A  New  Method  of  making  Common- Place  Books,  written  by  the  late  Learned 
Mr.  John  Lock  [sic].  Translated  from  the  French.  London  :  1706.  According 
to  the  Preface,  Locke  drew  it  up  when  abroad,  "  and  gave  it  to  Le  Clerc, 
who  published  it  in  French  in  the  second  tome  of  the  Bibliothtque  Universale  ".] 

2  [Johnson  goes  on  to  say  :  "  The  true  art  of  memory  is  the  art  of  attention  ". 
He  himself  "had  written,  in  the  form  of  Mr.  Locke's  Common-Place  Book,  a 
variety  of  hints  for  essays  on  different  subjects  "  (Boswell's  Johnson,  i. ,  204).] 

3  [In  Lord  Sheffield's  editions,  reviewing.] 

4  [In  the  Index  to  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  from  1731  to  1786,  I  cannot 
find  a  single  entry  referring  to  the  glaciers  or  mountains  of  Switzerland,  or  to 
mountain  climbing.  It  was  in  1786  that  Mont  Blanc  was  first  ascended.  In 
1784  Gibbon  wrote  :  "  During  the  summer  Lausanne  is  possibly,  after  Spa,  one 
of  the  most  favourite  places  of  general  resort.  The  voyage  of  Switzerland, 
the  Alps,  and  the  Glaciers  is  become  a  fashion"  (Corres.,  ii.,  116;  see  also 
post,  p.  221).] 

5[Vaud  at  this  time  was  governed  by  Berne,  and  Berne  was  governed  by  an 
aristocracy  (post,  p.  238).  Gibbon,  in  a  letter  "  probably  written  about  the  time 
of  his  first  leaving  Lausanne,"  attacked  Berne's  government  of  Vaud  (Misc. 
Works,  ii. ,  r).] 


1756-58]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  99 

and  instructive,  had  I  possessed  the  German,  as  well  as  the 
French  language.  We  passed  through  most  of  the  principal 
towns  of  Switzerland  ;  Neufchatel,  Bienne,  Soleurre,  Arau, 
Baden,  Zurich,  Basil,  and  Berne.  In  every  place  we  visited 
the  churches,  arsenals,  libraries,  and  all  the  most  eminent 
persons  ;  and  after  my  return,  I  digested  my  notes  in  four- 
teen or  fifteen  sheets  of  a  French  journal,  which  I  despatched 
to  my  father,  as  a  proof  that  my  time  and  his  money  had  not 
been  mis-spent.  Had  I  found  this  journal  among  his  papers, 
I  might  be  tempted  to  select  some  passages  1  ;  but  I  will  not 
transcribe  the  printed  accounts,  and  it  may  be  sufficient  to 
notice  a  remarkable  spot,  which  left  a  deep  and  lasting 
impression  on  my  memory.  From  Zurich  we  proceeded  to  the 
Benedictine  Abbey  of  Einsidlen,  more  commonly  styled  Our 
Lady  of  the  Hermits.  I  was  astonished  by  the  profuse  osten- 
tation of  riches  in  the  poorest  corner  of  Europe  ;  amidst  a 
savage  scene  of  woods  and  mountains,  a  palace  appears  to 
have  been  erected  by  magic ;  and  it  was  erected  by  the 
potent  magic  of  religion.2  A  crowd  of  palmers  and  votaries 
was  prostrate  before  the  altar.  The  title  and  worship  of  the 
Mother  of  God  provoked  my  indignation  3  ;  and  the  lively 
naked  image  of  superstition  suggested  to  me,  as  in  the  same 
place  it  had  done  to  Zuinglius,  the  most  pressing  argument 
for  the  reformation  of  the  Church.4     About  two  years  after 

1  [General  Read  has  printed  "  the  greater  portion  of  it  ".  He  found  it  in  the 
garret  of  La  Grotte  (Hist  Studies,  ii.,  314,  367).] 

-  [Gibbon  had  said  the  same  in  his  "  Introduction  a  l'Histoire  G^neYale  de  la 
Republique  des  Suisses  "  (Misc.  Works,  iii. ,  273):  "  Le  contraste  de  ses 
batiments  magnifiques  avec  le  pays  affreux  qui  les  entoure  fait  naitre  l'idee  des 
palais  enchanted,  qui  paraissaient  tout  a  coup  au  milieu  des  deserts.  La  magie 
d' Einsidlen  est  celle  de  la  superstition,  qui  lui  attire  encore  de  toutes  les  pro- 
vinces voisines  une  foule  de  pelerins  et  d'offrandes. "    See  also  16.,  p.  508. 

According  to  Baedecker  [Switzerland,  ed.  1893,  p.  98),  "  the  pilgrims  number 
about  150,000  annually  ".     The  Abbey  is  in  Schwyz.] 

3 [Gibbon,  writing  of  the  years  A.D.  429-431,  says:  "The  Blessed  Virgin 
Nestorius  revered  as  the  mother  of  Christ,  but  his  ears  were  offended  with  the 
rash  and  recent  title  of  Mother  of  God  "  (The  Decline,  v.,  in).] 

4 [Zuinglius  was  the  parish  priest  of  Einsidlen.  So  early  as  1516  he  taught 
his  congregation  to  seek  salvation,  not  in  the  Holy  Virgin,  but  in  the  merit 
and  intercession  of  Jesus  Christ  (Histoire  de  la  Reformation  de  la  Suisse, 
par  Abraham  Ruchat,   1727,  L,  9,  41,  292). 

Chesterfield  wrote  to  his  son,  who  had  visited  this  place  eight  years  before 


100  EDWAED  GIBBON  [1756-58 

this  tour,  I  passed  at  Geneva  a  useful  and  agreeable  month  ; 
but  this  excursion,  and  short  visits  in  the  Pays  de  Vaud,  did 
not  materially  interrupt  my  studious  and  sedentary  life  at 
Lausanne. 

My  thirst  of  improvement,  and  the  languid  state  of  science 
at  Lausanne/  soon  prompted  me  to  solicit  a  literary  correspon- 
dence with  several  men  of  learning,  whom  I  had  not  an 
opportunity  of  personally  consulting.  1.  In  the  perusal  of 
Livy  (xxx.,  44),  I  had  been  stopped  by  a  sentence  in  a  speech 
of  Hannibal,  which  cannot  be  reconciled  by  any  torture  with 
his  character  or  argument.  The  commentators  dissemble,  or 
confess  their  perplexity.  It  occurred  to  me,  that  the  change 
of  a  single  letter,  by  substituting  olio  instead  of  odio,  might  re- 
store a  clear  and  consistent  sense  ;  but  I  wished  to  weigh  my 
emendation  in  scales  less  partial  than  my  own.  I  addressed 
myself  to  M.  Crevier,  the  successor  of  Rollin,  and  a  professor 
in  the  university  of  Paris,  who  had  published  a  large  and 
valuable  edition  of  Livy.  His  answer  was  speedy  and  polite  ; 
he  praised  my  ingenuity,  and  adopted  my  conjecture.2  2.  I 
maintained  a  Latin  correspondence,  at  first  anonymous,  and 
afterwards  in  my  own  name,  with  Professor  Breitinger  of 
Zurich,  the  learned  editor  of  a  Septuagint  Bible.  In  our 
frequent    letters  we  discussed    many  questions  of  antiquity, 


Gibbon  :  "I  do  not  wonder  that  you  were  surprised  at  the  credulity  and 
superstition  of  the  Papists  at  Einsiedlen,  and  at  their  absurd  stories  of  their 
chapel.  But  remember,  at  the  same  time,  that  errors  and  mistakes,  however 
gross,  in  matters  of  opinion,  if  they  are  sincere,  are  to  be  pitied,  but  not 
punished,  nor  laughed  at"  {Letters  to  his  Son,  i. ,  272).] 

1  [Gibbon,  writing  of  the  government  of  Berne,  said:  "Indiquez  moi 
quelque  6tablissement  vraiment  utile  que  vous  deviez  au  souverain.  Mais  ne 
m'indiquez  pas  l'academie  de  Lausanne,  fondee  par  des  vues  de  devotion,  dans 
la  chaleur  d'une  reformation,    negligee  depuis,  et  toujours  acad^mie"  (Misc. 

Works,  ii. ,  17).  For  "la  bibliotheque  publique  .  .  .  assez  piteuse"  de  Lau- 
sanne see.  post,  p.  223,  ;?.] 

2  [The  line  as  it  stood  was :  ' '  Nee  esse  in  vos  odio  vestro  consultum  ab 
Romanis  credatis  ".  Crevier,  in  his  reply,  accepting  Gibbon's  correction,  added 
to  it  by  changing  in  vos  into  in  his.  "  Alors  la  phrase  sera  completement 
bonne.  Nee  esse  in  his  otio  vestro  consultum  ab  Romanis  credatis.  '  Ne  pensez 
pas  que  dans  ces  mesures  que  prennent  les  Romains,  pour  vous  oter  toutes  vos 
forces,  et  en  vous  interdisant  la  guerre  avec  l'elranger,  ils  aient  eu  pour  objet 
votre  tranquillity  et  votre  repos '  "  {Misc.  Works,  i. ,  435).  In  my  copy  of 
Crevier's  Livy,  Oxford,  1825,  the  old  reading  remains.] 


17.56-58]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  101 

many  passages  of  the  Latin  classics.1  I  proposed  my  interpre- 
tations and  amendments.  His  censures,  for  he  did  not  spare 
my  boldness  of  conjecture,  were  sharp  and  strong;  and  I  was 
encouraged  by  the  consciousness  of  my  strength,  when  I  could 
stand  in  free  debate  against  a  critic  of  such  eminence  and 
erudition.  3.  I  corresponded  on  similar  topics  with  the 
celebrated  Professor  Matthew  Gesner,  of  the  University  of 
Gottingen  ;  and  he  accepted,  as  courteously  as  the  two  former, 
the  invitation  of  an  unknown  youth.  But  his  abilities  might 
possibly  be  decayed ;  his  elaborate  letters  were  feeble  and 
prolix ;  and  when  I  asked  his  proper  direction,  the  vain  old 
man  covered  half  a  sheet  of  paper  with  the  foolish  enumera- 
tion of  his  titles  and  offices.2  4.  These  Professors  of  Paris, 
Zurich,  and  Gottingen,  were  strangers,  whom  I  presumed  to 
address  on  the  credit  of  their  name ;  but  Mr.  Allamand, 
minister  at  Bex,  was  my  personal  friend,  with  whom  I  main- 
tained a  more  free  and  interesting  correspondence.  He  was 
a  master  of  language,  of  science,  and,  above  all,  of  dispute ; 
and  his  acute  and  flexible  logic  could  support,  with  equal 
address,  and  perhaps  with  equal  indifference,  the  adverse  sides 
of  every  possible  question.  His  spirit  was  active,  but  his  pen 
had  been  indolent.  Mr.  Allamand  had  exposed  himself  to 
much  scandal  and  reproach,  by  an  anonymous  letter  (1715) 
to  the  Protestants  of  France,3  in  which  he  labours  to  persuade 
them  that  public  worship  is  the  exclusive  right  and  duty  of  the 
state,  and  that  their  numerous  assemblies  of  dissenters  and 
x-ebels  were  not  authorised  by  the  law  or   the  gospel.     His 


1  [Two  of  Breitinger's  letters,  written  in  Latin,  are  given  in  Gibbon's  Misc. 
Works,  i.,  456,  477.  In  the  second,  he  addresses  his  correspondent,  who  was 
two  months  short  of  twenty,  as  "  Prasclarissime  ac  Nobilissime  Vir".] 

2 ["A  Monsieur,  Monsieur  Gesner,  Conseiller  de  la  Cour  de  sa  Majeste 
Britannique,  Professeur  Ordinaire  de  1' University  de  Gottingue,  Inspecteur 
G6n£ral  des  Ecoles  de  l'Electorat  de  Hanovre,  Bibliothecaire  de  1' University, 
Directeur  du  Seminaire  Philologique,  President  de  la  Soci^te'  Royale  de 
l'Eloquence  Allemande,  et  Membre  de  la  SocitJtt:  Royale  de  Sciences  de 
Gottingue,  etc."  He  gave,  however,  as  an  alternative,  an  address  of  only  two 
lines  (id.,  i. ,  514).] 

i\LLettre  sur  les  assemblies  des  religio/niaires  en  Languedoc,  ecrite  d  un 
gentilhomme  protestant  de  cette  province ,  par  M.-D.-L.  F.-D.-M.,  imprimee  en 
France  sous  la  fausse  indication  de  Rotterdam,  1745  (Nouv.  Biog.  G</«.).] 


102  EDWARD  GIBBOX  [1756-58 

style  is  animated,  his  arguments  specious ;  and  if  the  papist 
may  seem  to  lurk  under  the  mask  of  a  protestant,  the  philo- 
sopher is  concealed  under  the  disguise  of  a  papist.  After 
some  trials  in  France  and  Holland,  which  were  defeated  by 
his  fortune  or  his  character,  a  genius  that  might  have  en- 
lightened or  deluded  the  world,  was  buried  in  a  country 
living,  unknown  to  fame,  and  discontented  with  mankind.1 
Est  scurrificultts  in  pago,  et  rusticos  decipit.  As  often  as  private 
or  ecclesiastical  business  called  him  to  Lausanne,  I  enjoyed 
the  pleasure  and  benefit  of  his  conversation,  and  we  were 
mutually  flattered  by  our  attention  to  each  other.  Our 
correspondence,  in  his  absence,  chiefly  turned  on  Locke's 
metaphysics,  which  he  attacked,  and  I  defended  ;  the  origin 
of  ideas,  the  principles  of  evidence,  and  the  doctrine  of 
liberty  - ; 

And  found  no  end,  in  wandering  mazes  lost." 

By  fencing  with  so  skilful  a  master,  I  acquired  some  dexterity 
in  the  use  of  my  philosophic  weapons ;  but  I  was  still  the 
slave  of  education  and  prejudice,  he  had  some  measures  to 
keep ;  and  I  much  suspect  that  he  never  showed  me  the  true 
colours  of  his  secret  scepticism. 

Before  I  was  recalled  from  Switzerland,  I  had  the  satisfac- 
tion of  seeing  the  most  extraordinary  man  of  the  age  ;  a  poet, 
an  historian,  a  philosopher,  who  has  filled  thirty  quartos  of 
prose  and  verse  with  his  various  productions,  often  excellent, 

1["He  was  in  1773  appointed  to  the  Chair  of  Greek  and  Ethics  in  the 
Academy  of  Lausanne.  He  was  Rector  of  the  Academy  from  1775  to  1778, 
and  died  April  3,  1784"  (Read's  Hist.  Studies,  ii.,  135).  See  ib. ,  p.  141,  for 
his  letter  to  Voltaire  from  Bex,  where  he  says  :  "By  dint  of  shining  for  others 
I  myself  am  become  extinguished".] 

2  [Two  of  Allamand's  letters  are  printed  in  Gibbon's  Misc.  Works,  i. ,  436- 
455.  He  ends  the  second  with  saying  :  "  II  y  a  longtemps  que  je  soupconne 
un  plan  forme'  de  require  le  systeme  general  a  trois  grands  empires ;  celui  des 
Francais  a  l'occident  du  Rhin,  celui  d'Autriche  a  l'orient,  et  celui  des  Russes 
au  nord.  II  n'y  en  a  pourtant  rien  dans  1' Apocalypse.  Qu'on  partage  la 
terre  comme  on  voudra,  pourvu  qu'il  y  soit  permis  de  croire,  que  ce  qui  est, 
est ;  et  que  les  contradictoires  ne  peuvent  pas  etre  vraies  en  meme  temps." 

Milman  ( The  Decline,  ed.  1854,  i. ,  53)  quotes  Dugald  Stewart  as  saying 
[Preface  to  EncycLop. ,  ii.,  13)  that  "  these  letters  may  be  still  read  with  advantage 
by  many  logicians  of  no  small  note  in  the  learned  world  ".] 

"\ Paradise  Lost,  ii.,  561.] 


1756-58]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  103 

and  always  entertaining.  Need  I  add  the  name  of  Voltaire  ? 
After  forfeiting,  by  his  own  misconduct,  the  friendship  of  the 
first  of  kings,1  he  retired,  at  the  age  of  sixty,  with  a  plentiful 
fortune,  to  a  free  and  beautiful  country,  and  resided  two 
winters  (1757  and  1758)  in  the  town  or  neighbourhood  of 
Lausanne.2  My  desire  of  beholding  Voltaire,  whom  I  then 
rated  above  his  real  magnitude,3  was  easily  gratified.  He 
received  me  with  civility  as  an  English  youth ;  but   I  cannot 


1  [In  1752  Voltaire  wrote  a  satire  on  Maupertuis,  President  of  the  Academy 
of  Berlin,  under  the  title  of  Diatribe  du  Docteur  Akakia.  It  is  said  that  he  read 
it  to  Frederick  the  Great,  but  promised  that  it  should  not  be  published. 
According  to  his  own  account  it  was  printed  without  his  consent  in  Holland, 
whence  it  rapidly  spread — "  30,000  copies  sold  in  Paris".  The  King  did  not 
believe  him,  and  wrote  him  the  following  letter  : — 

"  Votre  Efrontrie  m'etone,  apres  ce  que  vous  venez  de  faire  et  qui  est  Clair 
Come  le  jour  vous  persisted  au  lieu  de  vous  avouer  coupable,  ne  vous 
imaginez  pas  que  vous  ferez  Croire  que  le  Noir  est  blang,  quand  on  ne  Voit  pas, 
c'est  qu'on  ne  Veut  pas  tout  Voir,  mais  si  vous  poussez  L'affaire  a  bout  je  ferai 
tout  im primer,  et  Lon  vera  que  si  Vos  ouvrages  Meritent  qu'on  Vous  Erige  des 
Statues  votre  Conduite  vous  meriterait  des  Chaines. 

"  L'editeur  est  Interog^  il  a  tout  Declared" 

Voltaire  replied  : — 

"  Ah  mon  dieu  Sire  dans  letat  ou  je  suis  !  je  vous  jure  encor  sur  ma  vie  a  la 
quelle  je  renonce  sans  peine  que  cest  une  calomnie  affreuse.  je  vous  conjure  de 
faire  confronter  tous  mes  gens,  quoi  vous  me  jugeriez  sans  entendre,  je  demande 
justice,  et  la  mort."  From  a  facsimile  of  the  original  of  the  King's  letter  and 
of  Voltaire's  answer  written  beneath  on  the  same  sheet  (CEuvres  de  Voltaire, 
xli. ,  12). 

Mr.  Carlyle  in  his  Friedrich  II.  (ed.  in  ten  vols,  n.d.),  vi.,  274,  reverses  the 
order  of  the  letters,  making  the  King's  the  answer  to  Voltaire's.  The  last 
sentence  he  translates  :  "  I  demand  justice  or  death  ".  He  refers  to  CEuvres  de 
FrMdric,  xxii. ,  302,  i.] 

2  [Voltaire  wrote  in  1754:  "  Ce  Lausanne  est  devenu  un  singulier  pays.  II 
est  peuple  d' Anglais  et  de  Francais  philosophes,  qui  sont  venus  y  chercher  de  la 
tranquillite  et  du  soleil.  On  y  parle  francais,  on  y  pense  a  l'anglaise.  On  me 
presse  tous  les  jours  d'y  aller  faire  un  tour  "  (CEuvres,  xlix. ,  109).] 

3 ["Aug.  28,  1762.  I  finished  the  Steele  de  Louis  XIV.  I  believe  that 
Voltaire  had  for  this  work  an  advantage  which  he  has  seldom  enjoyed.  When 
he  treats  of  a  distant  period,  he  is  not  a  man  to  turn  over  musty  monkish 
writers  to  instruct  himself.  He  follows  some  compilation,  varnishes  it  over  with 
the  magic  of  his  style,  and  produces  a  most  agreeable,  superficial,  inaccurate 
performance.  But  there  the  information,  both  written  and  oral,  lay  within  his 
reach,  and  he  seems  to  have  taken  great  pains  to  consult  it "  (Misc.    I  V'orks,  v. , 

247)- 

"He  casts  a  keen  and  lively  glance  over  the  surface  of  history"  (The 
Decline,  v. ,  419).  "  In  his  way  Voltaire  was  a  bigot,  an  intolerable  bigot  "  (id., 
vii.,  139).  "The  pious  zeal  of  Voltaire  is  excessive,  and  even  ridiculous  "  (id., 
vii. ,  188).  Gibbon  had  perhaps  been  slighted  by  Voltaire.  In  his  Auto.,  p.  149, 
he  speaks  of  him  as  ' '  the  envious  bard  ' '  and  attacks  the  acting  of  ' '  his  fat  and 
ugly  niece".] 


104 


EDWARD  GIBBOX 


[1756-58 


boast   of  any   peculiar   notice   or   distinction,    Vtrgilium    vidi 
ttmtttm.1 

The  ode  which  he  composed  on  his  first  arrival  on  the 
banks  of  the  Leman  Lake,  0  Maisoh  d'Aristippe!  0  Jardin 
d' Epicure,2  etc.  had  been  imparted  as  a  secret  to  the  gentle- 
man by  whom  I  was  introduced.  He  allowed  me  to  read  it 
twice ;  I  knew  it  by  heart 3 ;  and  as  my  discretion  was  not 
equal  to  my  memory,  the  author  was  soon  displeased  by  the 
circulation  of  a  copy.  In  writing  this  trivial  anecdote,  1 
wished  to  observe  whether  my  memory  was  impaired,  and  I 
have  the  comfort  of  finding  that  every  line  of  the  poem  is 
still  engraved  in  fresh  and  indelible  characters.  The  highest 
gratification  which  I  derived  from  Voltaire's  residence  at 
Lausanne,  was  the  uncommon  circumstance  of  hearing  a 
great  poet  declaim  his  own  productions  on  the  stage.  He 
had  formed  a  company  of  gentlemen  and  ladies,  some  of 
whom  were  not  destitute  of  talents.  A  decent  theatre  was 
framed  at  Monrepos,  a  country-house  at  the  end  of  a  suburb  4  ; 
dresses  and  scenes  were  provided  at  the  expense  of  the  actors  ; 
and  the  author  directed  the  rehearsals  with  the  zeal  and 
attention  of  paternal  love.  In  two  successive  winters  his 
tragedies  of  Zayre,  Alzire,  Zulime,  and  his  sentimental 
comedy  of  the  Enfant  Prodigue,  were  played  at  the  theatre 
of  Monrepos.  Voltaire  represented  the  characters  best 
adapted  to  his  years,  Lusignan,   Alvarez,   Benassar,   Euphe- 

^[Ovid,  Tristia,  iv. ,  io,  51. 

Though  Voltaire  outlived  the  publication  of  the  first  part  of  The  Dec  Ha. 
Fall  by  more  than  two  years,  Gibbon's  name  is  nowhere  mentioned  by  him — 
at  all  events  it  does  not  appear  in  the  index  of  his  Works.  ] 

"-\CEuvres  (k  Voltaire,  xi. ,  174.] 

:;[It  contains  122  lines.  Dr.  Johnson  learnt  by  heart  at  two  readings 
Hawkesworth's  Ode  on  Life,  but  it  contained  only  sixty -eight  lines — lines  more- 
over of  fewer  feet  than  Voltaire's  ode  [John.  Misc.,  ii.,  167).] 

4  [To  form  the  stage  "  a  communication  was  opened  through  the  house  wall 
and  an  adjoining  hay -loft ;  the  spectators  were  within  the  chateau.  During  a 
representation  of  Zaire,  when  Lusignan  said  to  Chatillon [Act  ii.,  scene  3] : — 

En  quels  lieux  sommes-nous  ?  aidez  mes  faibles  yeux  ! 
a  caustic  Lausannois  cried  out : — 

Seigneur,  e'est  le  grenier  du  maitre  de  ces  lieux." 

(Read's  Hist.  Studies,  ii. ,  211.) 

Of  Voltaire's  house  "one  of  the  rooms  and  a  portion  of  the  walls  are  in- 
cluded in  the  present  mansion"  (io.,  p.  214).] 


1756-58]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  105 

mon.  His  declamation  was  fashioned  to  the  pomp  and 
cadence  of  the  old  stage  ;  and  he  expressed  the  enthusiasm 
of  poetry,  rather  than  the  feelings  of  nature.1  My  ardour, 
which  soon  became  conspicuous,  seldom  failed  of  procuring 
me  a  ticket.  The  habits  of  pleasure  fortified  my  taste  for 
the  French  theatre,  and  that  taste  has  perhaps  abated  my 
idolatry  for  the  gigantic  genius  of  Shakespeare,  which  is 
inculcated  from  our  infancy  as  the  first  duty  of  an  English- 
man.2 The  wit  and  philosophy  of  Voltaire,  his  table  and 
theatre,  refined,  in  a  visible  degree,  the  manners  of  Lausanne  ; 
and,  however  addicted  to  study,  I  enjoyed  my  share  of  the 
amusements  of  society.  After  the  representation  of  Monrepos 
I  sometimes  supped  with  the  actors.  I  was  now  familiar  in 
some,  and  acquainted  in  many  houses  ;  and  my  evenings  were 
generally  devoted  to  cards  and  conversation,  either  in  private 
parties  or  numerous  assemblies. 

I  hesitate,  from  the  apprehension  of  ridicule,  when  I 
approach  the  delicate  subject  of  my  early  love.  By  this 
word  I  do  not  mean  the  polite  attention,  the  gallantry, 
without  hope  or  design,  which  has  originated  in  the  spirit 
of  chivalry,  and  is  interwoven  with  the  texture  of  French 
manners.  I  understand  by  this  passion  the  union  of  desire, 
friendship,  and  tenderness,  which  is  inflamed  by  a  single 
female,  which  prefers  her  to  the  rest  of  her  sex,  and  which 
seeks  her  possession  as  the  supreme  or  the  sole  happiness  of 
our  being.  I  need  not  blush  at  recollecting  the  object  of  my 
choice  ;  and  though  my  love  was  disappointed  of  success,  1 
am  rather  proud  that  I  was  once  capable  of  feeling  such  a 
pure  and  exalted    sentiment.       The    personal   attractions   of 


■>[/W,  p.    155.] 

2  [Gibbon  had  Hume  and  Adam  Smith  to  support  him  in  his  taste.  Hume 
wrote  of  John  Home's  Douglas :  "  I  am  persuaded  it  will  be  esteemed  the  best, 
and  by  French  critics  the  only  tragedy  of  our  nation"  (Burton's  Hiane,  ii. ,  17). 
Adam  Smith  looked  upon  Racine's  Phidre  as  "  the  finest  tragedy,  perhaps,  that 
is  extant  in  any  language"  (  Theory  of  Moral  Sentiments,  ed.  1801,  i.,  255). 

Gibbon  had  no  idolatry  for  the  genius  of  Corneille.  Of  his  Attila  hie  says 
that  "it  opens  with  two  ridiculous  lines"  {The  Decline,  hi.,  422).  In  Attila's 
death  Corneille  "  describes  the  irruption  of  blood  in  forty  bombast  lines"  (ii., 
P-  474>0 


106  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1756-58 

Mademoiselle  Susan  Curchod  were  embellished  by  the  virtues 
and  talents  of  the  mind.  Her  fortune  was  humble,  but  her 
family  was  respectable.  Her  mother,  a  native  of  France,  had 
preferred  her  religion  to  her  country.  The  profession  of  her 
father  did  not  extinguish  the  moderation  and  philosophy  of 
his  temper,  and  he  lived  content  with  a  small  salary  and 
laborious  duty,  in  the  obscure  lot  of  minister  of  Grassy,  in  the 
mountains  that  separate  the  Pays  de  Vaud  from  the  county 
of  Burgundy.1  In  the  solitude  of  a  sequestered  village  he 
bestowed  a  liberal,  and  even  learned,  education  on  his  only 
daughter.  She  surpassed  his  hopes  by  her  proficiency  in  the 
sciences  and  languages  ;  and  in  her  short  visits  to  some 
relations  at  Lausanne,  the  wit,  the  beauty,2  and  erudition  of 
Mademoiselle  Curchod  were  the  theme  of  universal  applause. 
The  report  of  such  a  prodigy  awakened  my  curiosity  ;  I  saw 
and  loved.  I  found  her  learned  without  pedantry,  lively  in 
conversation,  pure  in  sentiment,  and  elegant  in  manners  ;  and 
the  first  sudden  emotion  was  fortified  by  the  habits  and 
knowledge  of  a  more  familiar  acquaintance.     She  permitted 

1  Extracts  from  the  Journal. — March,  1757. — I  wrote  some  critical  observa- 
tions upon  Plautus.  March  8. — I  wrote  a  long  dissertation  on  some  lines  of 
Virgil.  June. — I  saw  Mademoiselle  Curchod — Omnia  vincit  amor,  et  nos 
cedamus  amori.  August. — I  went  to  Crassy,  and  staid  two  days.  Sept.  15.  — 
I  went  to  Geneva.  Oct.  15. — I  came  back  to  Lausanne,  having  passed  through 
Crassy.  Nov.  1.— I  went  to  visit  M.  de  Watteville  at  Loin,  and  saw  Made- 
moiselle Curchod  in  my  way  through  Rolle.  Nov.  17. — I  went  to  Crassy,  and 
staid  there  six  days.  Jan.  1758. — In  the  three  first  months  of  this  year  I  read 
Ovid's  Metamorphoses,  finished  the  conic  sections  with  M.  de  Traytorrens,  and 
went  as  far  as  the  infinite  series  ;  I  likewise  read  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  Chronology, 
and  wrote  my  critical  observations  upon  it.  Jan.  23. —  I  saw  Alzire  acted  by  the 
society  at  Monrepos. — Gibbon. 

[The  Observations  upon  Plautus  are  given  in  Misc.  Works,  iv.,  435  ;  two 
Dissertations  on  Virgil,  id.,  iv.,  441,  446  (the  second  of  which  is  mentioned 
ante,  p.  93),  and  the  Observations  upon  Newton's  Chronology,  id.,  iii. ,  152.  The 
quotation,  Omnia,  etc.,  is  from  Virgil's  Eclogues,  x. ,  69. 

"  Love  conquers  all,  and  we  must  yield  to  love." 

(Dryden. ) 

Gibbon  mentions  De  Watteville  in  a  letter  to  Lord  Sheffield  about  the  French 
invasion  of  Savoy  in  1792  :  "  M.  de  Watteville,  with  whom  you  dined  at  my 
house  last  year,  refused  to  accept  the  command  of  the  Swiss  succour  of  Geneva, 
till  it  was  made  his  first  instruction  that  he  should  never,  in  any  case,  surrender 
himself  prisoner  of  war  "  (Corres.,  ii.,  316).] 

2 [Gibbon  in  writing  to  her  said:  "Nature  endowed  you  with  a  beauty 
which  would  soften  a  tyrant  and  inflame  an  anchorite  "  (Read's  Hist.  Studies, 
ii-,334)-] 


1756-58]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  107 

me  to  make  her  two  or  three  visits  at  her  father's  house.  I 
passed  some  happy  days  there,  in  the  mountains  of  Burgundy, 
and  her  parents  honourably  encouraged  the  connection.  In 
a  calm  retirement  the  gay  vanity  of  youth  no  longer  fluttered 
in  her  bosom  ;  she  listened  to  the  voice  of  truth  and  passion, 
and  I  might  presume  to  hope  that  I  had  made  some  impres- 
sion on  a  virtuous  heart.  At  Crassy  and  Lausanne  I  indulged 
my  dream  of  felicity  :  but  on  my  return  to  England  I  soon 
discovered  that  my  father  would  not  hear  of  this  strange 
alliance,  and  that  without  his  consent  I  was  myself  destitute 
and  helpless.  After  a  painful  struggle  I  yielded  to  my  fate  : 
I  sighed  as  a  lover,  I  obeyed  as  a  son  l  ;  my  wound  was 
insensibly  healed  by  time,  absence,  and  the  habits  of  a  new 
life.  My  cure  was  accelerated  by  a  faithful  report  of  the 
tranquillity  and  cheerfulness  of  the  lady  herself,2  and  my  love 
subsided  in  friendship  and  esteem.  The  minister  of  Crassy 
soon  afterwards  died  ;  his  stipend  died  with  him  :  his 
daughter  retired  to  Geneva,  where,  by  teaching  young  ladies, 
she  earned  a  hard  subsistence  for  herself  and  her  mother ; 
but  in  her  lowest  distress  she  maintained  a  spotless  reputa- 

1  [Gibbon's  conduct  was  the  reverse  of  that  of  the  Princess  of  whom  he 
wrote:  "  Honoria  sighed,  yielded  to  the  impulse  of  nature,  and  threw  herself 
into  the  arms  of  her  chamberlain  Eugenius  "  {The Decline,  iii.,  456). 

For  Mile  de  Curchod  see  Appendix  20.] 

2  [It  is,  I  believe,  to  this  passage  that  Miss  Holroyd  referred  when  she  wrote  : 
"  The  manner  in  which  he  mentions  his  first  love,  Mdme  Necker,  is  very  flatter- 
ing ;  but  even  there  he  cannot  help  introducing  a  little  sarcasm  "  {Girlhood, 
etc.,  p.  274).  She  added  :  "  She  had  the  satisfaction  of  going  out  of  the  world 
with  the  knowledge  of  being  his  first  and  only  love.  Papa  sent  extracts  of  the 
passages  where  he  mentioned  her  and  the  Severy  family  to  Severy  [post,  p. 
236,  n.~[  ;  and  she  had  the  pleasure  of  reading  them  before  her  death  "  (id., 
p.  288).  "There  are  several  love  letters  of  Mme  Necker's  among  Mr.  Gibbon's 
papers  "  (ib.,  p.  293). 

As  she  would  have  willingly  married  Gibbon,  so  was  she  eager  for  her 
daughter  to  marry  Pitt.  She  wrote  to  her  in  1783:  "  Je  d£sirais  que  tu 
6pousasses  M.  Pitt.  .  .  .  Tu  n'as  pas  voulu  me  donner  cette  satisfaction" 
(D'Haussonville's  Le  Salon  de  Madame  Necker,  ii.,  56).  In  1790  her  daughter 
(then  Madame  de  Stael)  wrote  at  Coppet  {post,  p.  221) :  "  Nous  possedons  dans 
ce  chateau  M.  Gibbon,  l'ancien  amoureux  de  ma  mere,  celui  qui  voulait 
l'tipouser.  Quand  je  le  vois,  je  me  demande  si  je  serais  n6e  de  son  union  avec 
ma  mere  :  je  me  r£ponds  que  non  et  qu'il  suffisait  de  mon  pere  seul  pour  que  je 
vinsse  au  monde "  [ib.,  ii.,  250).  On  his  death  she  wrote:  "  Ce  pauvre 
Gibbon,  dont  tu  m'as  entendu  parler  comme  du  seul  homme  qui  put  attacher 
a  la  Suisse,  est  mort  en  Angleterre.  ...  On  est  £tonn£  de  voir  peYir  autrement 
que  par  la  revolution  francaise  "  (ib.,  p.  282).] 


108  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1756-58 

tion,  and  a  dignified  behaviour.  A  rich  banker  of  Paris,  a 
citizen  of  Geneva,  had  the  good  fortune  and  good  sense  to 
discover  and  possess  this  inestimable  treasure  ;  and  in  the 
capital  of  taste  and  luxury  she  resisted  the  temptations  of 
wealth,  as  she  had  sustained  the  hardships  of  indigence.  The 
genius  of  her  husband  has  exalted  him  to  the  most  conspicuous 
station  in  Europe.  In  every  change  of  prosperity  and  disgrace 
he  has  reclined  on  the  bosom  of  a  faithful  friend  ;  and  Made- 
moiselle Curchod  is  now  the  wife  of  M.  Necker,  the  minister, 
and  perhaps  the  legislator,  of  the  French  monarchy.1 

Whatsoever  have  been  the  fruits  of  my  education,  they 
must  be  ascribed  to  the  fortunate  banishment  which  placed 
me  at  Lausanne.  I  have  sometimes  applied  to  my  own  fate 
the  verses  of  Pindar,  which  remind  an  Olympic  champion  that 
his  victory  was  the  consequence  of  his  exile  ;  and  that  at  home, 
like  a  domestic  fowl,  his  days  might  have  rolled  away  inactive 
or  inglorious. 

.   .    .  r)roi  Kal  red  Kev, 
'EvSofidxas  St1  a\eKroip, 
'Zvyyovui  Trap'  ecrrla 
'A/cAe?/s  ri/xa  KarecbvWop6ri(Tev  ttoS&iv  • 
Ei  fir)  (TTuffis  avnaveipa 
Kvwaias  cr'  d/xepae  rrdrpas.2 

— Olymp.  xii. 

1  [Post,  p.  198.  On  Sept.  3,  1790,  Necker  "  withdrew  softly,  almost  privily. 
.  .  .  Fifteen  months  ago  we  saw  him  coming,  with  escort  of  horse,  with  sound 
of  clarion  and  trumpet  ;  and  now,  at  Arcis-sur-Aube,  while  he  departs, 
unescorted,  soundless,  the  Populace  and  Municipals  stop  him  as  a  fugitive,  are 
not  unlike  massacring  him  as  a  traitor  ;  the  National  Assembly,  consulted  on 
the  matter,  gives  him  free  egress  as  a  nullity  "  (Carlyle's  French  Revolution, 
ed.  1857,  i.,  303). 

"  I  passed  four  days  [in  October,  1790]  at  the  castle  of  Copetwith  Necker," 
Gibbon  wrote,  "  and  could  have  wished  to  have  shown  him  as  a  warning  to  any 
aspiring  youth  possessed  with  the  demon  of  ambition.  With  all  the  means  of 
private  happiness  in  his  power,  he  is  the  most  miserable  of  human  beings  :  the 
past,  the  present,  and  the  future  are  equally  odious  to  him.  When  I  suggested 
some  domestic  amusements  of  books,  building,  etc. ,  he  answered  with  a  deep 
tone  of  despair,  '  Dans  l'etat  oil  je  suis,  je  ne  puis  sentir  que  le  coup  de  vent 
qui  m'a  abattu  '  "  (Corres.,  ii.,  236).] 

2  Thus,  like  the  crested  bird  of  Mars,  at  home 
Engag'd  in  foul  domestic  jars, 
And  wasted  with  intestine  wars, 
Inglorious  hadst  thou  spent  thy  vig'rous  bloom  ; 
Had  not  sedition's  civil  broils 
Expel  I'd  thee  from  thy  native  Crete, 
And  driv'n  thee  with  more  glorious  toils 
Th'  Olympic  crown  in  Pisa's  plain  to  meet. 

(West's  Pindar.)— SHEFFIELD. 


1758]  MEM0I11S  OF  MY  LIFE  109 

If  my  childish  revolt  against  the  religion  of  my  country 
had  not  stripped  me  in  time  of  my  academic  gown,  the  five 
important  years,  so  liberally  improved  in  the  studies  and 
conversation  of  Lausanne,  would  have  been  steeped  in  port 
and  prejudice  among  the  monks  of  Oxford.  Had  the  fatigue 
of  idleness  compelled  me  to  read,  the  path  of  learning  would 
not  have  been  enlightened  by  a  ray  of  philosophic  freedom. 
I  should  have  grown  to  manhood  ignorant  of  the  life  and 
language  of  Europe,1  and  my  knowledge  of  the  world  would 
have  been  confined  to  an  English  cloister.  But  my  religious 
error  fixed  me  at  Lausanne,  in  a  state  of  banishment  and 
disgrace.  The  rigid  course  of  discipline  and  abstinence,  to 
which  I  was  condemned,  invigorated  the  constitution  of  my 
mind  and  body ;  poverty  and  pride  estranged  me  from  my 
countrymen.  One  mischief,  however,  and  in  their  eyes  a 
serious  and  irreparable  mischief,  was  derived  from  the  success 
of  my  Swiss  education  ;  I  had  ceased  to  be  an  Englishman. 
At  the  flexible  period  of  youth,  from  the  age  of  sixteen  to 
twenty-one,  my  opinions,  habits,  and  sentiments  were  cast 
in  a  foreign  mould ;  the  faint  and  distant  remembrance  of 
England  was  almost  obliterated  ;  my  native  language  was 
grown  less  familiar  2  ;  and  I  should  have  cheerfully  accepted 
the  offer  of  a  moderate  independence  on  the  terms  of  per- 
petual exile.  By  the  good  sense  and  temper  of  Pavilliard 
my  yolk  was  insensibly  lightened :  he  left  me  master  of  my 
time  and  actions  ;  but  he  could  neither  change  my  situation, 
nor  increase  my  allowance,  and  with  the  progress  of  my  years 
and  reason  I  impatiently  sighed  for  the  moment  of  my  deliver- 
ance. At  length,  in  the  spring  of  the  year  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  fifty-eight,  my  father  signified  his  per- 
mission and  his  pleasure  that  I  should  immediately  return 
home.  We  were  then  in  the  midst  of  a  war  :  the  resentment 
of  the  French  at  our  taking  their  ships  without  a  declaration,3 

*[Post,  p.  132.] 

'-[From  Gallicisms  he  never  wholly  "  cleared  his  tongue  "—or  rather  his  pen.] 
:t  [In  the  summer  of  1755,  though  war  had  not  been  declared  between  Eng- 
land and  France,  it  was  actually  carried  on  in  the  American  settlements.     The 
English  cruisers  began  to  prey  on  the  French  commerce.     "  Before  the  end  of 


110  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1758 

had  rendered  that  polite  nation  somewhat  peevish  and  difficult. 
They  denied  a  passage  to  English  travellers,  and  the  road 
through  Germany  was  circuitous,  toilsome,  and  perhaps  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  armies,  exposed  to  some  danger. 
In  this  perplexity,  two  Swiss  officers  of  my  acquaintance  in  the 
Dutch  service,  who  were  returning  to  their  garrisons,  offered 
to  conduct  me  through  France  as  one  of  their  companions ; 
nor  did  we  sufficiently  reflect  that  my  borrowed  name  and 
regimentals  might  have  been  considered,  in  case  of  a  dis- 
covery, in  a  very  serious  light.1  I  took  my  leave  of  Lausanne 
on  the  11th  of  April,  1758,  with  a  mixture  of  joy  and  regret, 
in  the  firm  resolution  of  revisiting,  as  a  man,  the  persons  and 
places  which  had  been  so  dear  to  my  youth.2  We  travelled 
slowly,  but  pleasantly,  in  a  hired  coach,  over  the  hills  of 
Franche-compte  and  the  fertile  province  of  Lorraine,  and 
passed,  without  accident  or  inquiry,  through  several  fortified 
towns  of  the  French  frontier :  from  thence  we  entered  the 
wild  Ardennes  of  the  Austrian  dutchy  of  Luxemburg ;  and 
after  crossing  the  Meuse  at  Liege,  we  traversed  the  heaths  of 
Brabant,  and  reached,  on  the  fifteenth  day,  our  Dutch  garrison 
of  Bois  le  Due.  In  our  passage  through  Nancy,  my  eye  was 
gratified  by  the  aspect  of  a  regular  and  beautiful  city,  the 
work  of  Stanislaus,  who,  after  the  storms  of  Polish  royalty, 
reposed  in  the  love  and  gratitude  of  his  new  subjects  of 
Lorraine. :<     In  our  halt  at  Maestricht  I  visited  Mr.  de  Beau- 

this  year  300  French  merchant  ships,  many  of  them  extremely  rich,  and  8,000 
of  their  sailors  were  brought  into  English  ports."  This  was  done  "under  the 
motive  of  self-defence,  in  order  to  deprive  the  French  Court  of  the  means  of 
making  an  invasion,  with  which  their  Ministers  in  all  the  Courts  of  Europe 
had  menaced  England".  War  was  formally  declared  in  March,  1756 
(Smollett's  England,  ed.    1800,  iii. ,  442,  520-21).] 

1  [He  would  not  have  been  detected  by  an  English  accent.  "  II  faut  ajouter 
avec  Suard  qu'il  prononcait  avec  affectation,  et  d'un  ton  de  fausset,  la  langue 
francaise,  laquelle  il  parlait  d'ailleurs  avec  une  rare  correction  et  comme  un 
livre"  (Causeries  du  Lundi,  viii. ,  439).] 

2 [He  was  thinking  of  himself  and  Lausanne  in  the  following  passage: 
"Julian  inviolably  preserved  for  Athens  that  tender  regard  which  seldom  fails 
to  arise  in  a  liberal  mind,  from  the  recollection  of  the  place  where  it  has 
discovered  and  exercised  its  growing  powers"  (The  Decline,  ii.,  255).] 

3 [Stanislaus  Leszczynski,  the  Palatine  of  Posen,  supported  by  Charles  XII. 
of  Sweden,  was  elected  King  of  Poland  in  1704.  He  abdicated  the  throne  in 
1709,    and   in   the  end  retired   to   France.       In   1725   his   daughter   married 


1758]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  111 

fort,  a  learned  critic,  who  was  known  to  me  by  his  specious 
arguments  against  the  five  first  centuries  of  the  Roman  His- 
tory.1 After  dropping  my  regimental  companions,  I  stepped 
aside  to  visit  Rotterdam  and  the  Hague.  I  wished  to  have 
observed  a  country,  the  monument  of  freedom  and  industry ; 
but  my  days  were  numbered,  and  a  longer  delay  would  have 
been  ungraceful.  I  hastened  to  embark  at  the  Brill,  landed 
the  next  day  at  Harwich,2  and  proceeded  to  London,  where 
my  father  awaited  my  arrival.  The  whole  term  of  my  first 
absence  from  England  was  four  years  ten  months  and  fifteen 
days. 

In  the  prayers  of  the  church  our  personal  concerns  are 
judiciously  reduced  to  the  threefold  distinction  of  mind,  body, 
and  estate.*  The  sentiments  of  the  mind  excite  and  exercise 
our  social  sympathy.  The  review  of  my  moral  and  literary 
character  is  the  most  interesting  to  myself  and  to  the  public  ; 
and  I  may  expatiate,  without  reproach,  on  my  private  studies  ; 
since  they  have  produced  the  public  writings,  which  can  alone 
entitle  me  to  the  esteem  and  friendship  of  my  readers.     The 

Lewis  XV.  In  1733  he  was  a  second  time  proclaimed  king,  and  in  1735  by  the 
Treaty  of  Vienna  he  made  a  second  and  a  final  abdication.  "  He  was  to  enjoy 
possession  of  the  duchies  of  Lorraine  and  Bar,  which  after  his  death  were  to  be 
permanently  united  to  France.  In  1737  he  was  formally  put  in  possession  of 
his  new  territories.  He  died  in  1766  at  the  age  of  eighty-nine"  {Poland,  by 
W.  R.  Morrill,  ed.  1893,  pp.  199-208). 

Condorcet  in  his  Vie  de  Voltaire  thus  writes  of  Stanislaus  :  ' '  Retire  en 
Lorraine,  ou  il  n'avait  encore  que  le  nom  de  souverain,  il  reparait  par  ses 
bienfaits  le  mal  que  l'administration  francaise  fesait  a  cette  province,  ou  le 
gouvernement  paternel  de  Leopold  avait  r6par6  un  siecle  de  devastations  et 
malheurs.  .  .  .  Sa  maison  6tait  celle  d'un  particulier  tres  riche  ;  son  ton,  celui 
d'un  homme  simple  et  franc  qui,  n'ayant  jamais  6t6  malheureux  que  parce 
qu'on  avait  voulu  qu'il  fin  roi,  n'etait  pas  ebloui  d'un  titre  dont  il  n'avait 
eprouv6  que  les  dangers  "  {CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  lxiv. ,  58).] 

1["  Notre  siecle,  qui  se  croit  destine  a  changer  les  lois  en  tout  genre,  a  enfante 
un  Pyrrhonisme  historique,  utile  et  dangereux.  M.  de  Pouilly,  esprit  brilliant 
et  superficiel,  qui  citait  plus  qu'il  ne  lisait,  douta  de  la  certitude  des  cinq 
premiers  siecles  de  Rome  ;  mais  son  imagination  peu  faite  pour  ces  recherches 
ceda  facilement  a  1' erudition  et  a  la  critique  de  M.  Freret  et  de  l'Abbe  Sallier. 
M.  de  Beaufort  fit  revivre  cette  controverse,  et  l'histoire  Romaine  souffrit  beau- 
coup  des  attaques  d'un  6crivain  qui  savait  douter  et  qui  savait  decider" 
(Gibbon,  Misc.    Works,  iv. ,  40). ] 

2 [He  landed  on  May  4,  1758  {Auto.,  p.  241).] 

3 ["Finally,  we  commend  to  thy  fatherly  goodness  all  those  who  are  any 
ways  afflicted,  or  distressed,  in  mind,  body  or  estate"  {A  Collect  or  Prayer 
for  all  Conditions  of  Men).~\ 


112  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1758 

experience  of  the  world  inculcates  a  discreet  reserve  on  the 
subject  of  our  person  and  estate,  and  we  soon  learn  that 
a  free  disclosure  of  our  riches  or  poverty  would  provoke  the 
malice  of  envy,  or  encom*age  the  insolence  of  contempt. 

The  only  person  in  England  whom  I  was  impatient  to  see 
was  my  aunt  Porten,  the  affectionate  guardian  of  my  tender 
years.  I  hastened  to  her  house  in  College-street,  West- 
minster ;  and  the  evening  was  spent  in  the  effusions  of  joy 
and  confidence.  It  was  not  without  some  awe  and  apprehen- 
sion that  I  approached  the  presence  of  my  father.  My 
infancy,  to  speak  the  truth,  had  been  neglected  at  home  1 ; 
the  severity  of  his  look  and  language  at  our  last  parting  still 
dwelt  on  my  memory  ;  nor  could  I  form  any  notion  of  his 
character,  or  my  probable  reception.  They  were  both  more 
agreeable  than  I  could  expect.  The  domestic  discipline  of 
our  ancestors  has  been  relaxed  by  the  philosophy  and  softness 
of  the  age 2 ;  and  if  my  father  remembered  that  he  had 
trembled  before  a  stern  parent,3  it  was  only  to  adopt  with  his 
own  son  an  opposite  mode  of  behaviour.  He  received  me  as 
a  man  and  a  friend  ;  all  constraint  was  banished  at  our  first 
interview,  and  we  ever  afterwards  continued  on  the  same 
terms  of  easy  and  equal  politeness.  He  applauded  the 
success  of  my  education ;  every  word  and  action  was  ex- 
pressive of  the  most  cordial  affection  ;  and  our  lives  would 
have  passed  without  a  cloud,  if  his  ceconomy  had  been  equal 
to  his  fortune,  or  if  his  fortune  had  been  equal  to  his  desires. 
During  my  absence  he  had  married  his  second  wife,  Miss 
Dorothea  Patton,  who  was  introduced  to  me  with  the  most 


1  [In  dedicating  to  his  father  his  Essai  (post,  p.  127)  he  speaks  of  "  that  truly 
paternal  care  which,  from  the  first  dawnings  of  my  reason,  has  always  watched 
over  my  education,  and  afforded  me  every  opportunity  of  improvement "  (Misc. 
Works,  iv. ,  4).     See  ante,  p.  30,  for  his  mother's  neglect  of  him.] 

2["  When  Johnson  saw  some  young  ladies  in  Lincolnshire  who  were  remark- 
ably well  behaved,  owing  to  their  mother's  strict  discipline  and  severe  correc- 
tion, he  exclaimed  in  one  of  Shakspeare's  lines  a  little  varied, 
"  Rod,  I  will  honour  thee  for  this  thy  duty." 

(Boswell's  Johnson,  i. ,  46.)] 

:i[Not  only  his  son,  but  his  daughters  feared  him.     "  His  children  trembled 
in  his  presence"  (A /do.,  p.  17).] 


1758]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  113 

unfavourable  prejudice.  I  considered  his  second  marriage  as 
an  act  of  displeasure,  and  I  was  disposed  to  hate  the  rival  of 
my  mother.  But  the  injustice  was  in  my  own  fancy,1  and  the 
imaginary  monster  was  an  amiable  and  deserving  woman.  I 
could  not  be  mistaken  in  the  first  view  of  her  understanding, 
her  knowledge,  and  the  elegant  spirit  of  her  conversation  : 
her  polite  welcome,  and  her  assiduous  care  to  study  and 
gratify  my  wishes,  announced  at  least  that  the  surface  would 
be  smooth  ;  and  my  suspicions  of  art  and  falsehood  were 
gradually  dispelled  by  the  full  discovery  of  her  warm  and 
exquisite  sensibility.'2  After  some  reserve  on  my  side,  our 
minds  associated  in  confidence  and  friendship  ;  and  as  Mrs. 
Gibbon  had  neither  children  nor  the  hopes  of  children,  we 
more  easily  adopted  the  tender  names  and  genuine  characters 
of  mother  and  of  son.  By  the  indulgence  of  these  parents,  I 
was  left  at  liberty  to  consult  my  taste  or  reason  in  the  choice 
of  place,  of  company,  and  of  amusements  ;  and  my  excursions 
were  bounded  only  by  the  limits  of  the  island,  and  the 
measure  of  my  income.  Some  faint  efforts  were  made  to  pro- 
cure me  the  employment  of  secretary  to  a  foreign  embassy  3  ; 
and  I  listened  to  a  scheme  which  would  again  have  trans- 
ported me  to  the  continent.  Mrs.  Gibbon,  with  seeming 
wisdom,  exhorted  me  to  take  chambers  in  the  Temple,  and 
devote  my  leisure  to  the  study  of  the  law.     I  cannot  repent 

1  [The  previous  two  lines  are  a  patchwork  from  paragraphs  in  different 
Memoirs  {Auto.,  pp.  158,  242),  both  of  which  end  with  the  line  of  Virgil — "  Est 
mihi  namque  domi  pater,  est  injusta  noverca"  (Virgil,  Eclogues,  iii.,  33).  The 
omission  renders  the  connection  not  clear. 

To  his  father  he  had  written  from  Lausanne  on  June  4,  1757:  "  Assurez 
ma  chere  mere  (c'est  avec  bien  du  plaisir  que  je  lui  donne  ce  titre)  de  tous  les 
sentimens  que  ce  nom  sacre'  emporte  avec  lui"  {Corres. ,  i. ,  12).  See  also  ib. , 
p.  10,  for  a  similar  lie.] 

2  [She  gave  him  trouble  by  her  obstinacy,  when  he  was  trying  "  to  disentangle 
himself  from  the  management  of  the  farm"  at  Buriton  {post,  p.  187).  "She 
refused  to  yield  an  iota  of  her  pretensions.  .  .  .  She  is  angry  if  she  is  not 
constantly  consulted,  and  yet  takes  up  everything  with  such  absolute  quickness 
that  we  all  dread  to  consult  her"  {Corres.,  i. ,  164).  Though  he  was  a  most 
dutiful  son,  nevertheless,  as  her  life  was  greatly  prolonged,  he  began  to  count 
upon  her  death.  Speaking  of  her  by  the  name  of  her  residence  he  wrote  in 
1789:  "The  decay  of  the  Belvidere  must  place  me  in  easy  circumstance"; 
and  again  in  1791 :  "  As  soon  as  the  Belvidere  subsides  I  am  rich  beyond  all 
my  plans  of  expence  at  Lausanne"  {ib.,  ii.,  196,  232).     She  outlived  him.] 

3  [Post,  p.  126.] 

8 


114  EDWARD  GIBBON  [i758-6o 

of  having  neglected  her  advice.  Few  men,  without  the  spur 
of  necessity,  have  resolution  to  force  their  way,  through  the 
thorns  and  thickets  of  that  gloomy  labyrinth.  Nature  had 
not  endowed  me  with  the  bold  and  ready  eloquence  which 
makes  itself  heard  amidst  the  tumult  of  the  bar  ;  and  I  should 
probably  have  been  diverted  from  the  labours  of  literature, 
without  acquiring  the  fame  or  fortune  of  a  successful  pleader. 
I  had  no  need  to  call  to  my  aid  the  regular  duties  of  a  pro- 
fession ;  every  day,  every  hour,  was  agreeably  filled  ;  nor  have 
I  known,  like  so  many  of  my  countrymen,  the  tediousness  of 
an  idle  life. 

Of  the  two  years  (May  1758 — May  1760)  between  my 
return  to  England  and  the  embodying  of  the  Hampshire 
militia,  I  passed  about  nine  months  in  London,  and  the 
remainder  in  the  country.  The  metropolis  affords  many 
amusements,  which  are  open  to  all.  It  is  itself  an  astonish- 
ing and  perpetual  spectacle  to  the  curious  eye ;  and  each 
taste,  each  sense  may  be  gratified  by  the  variety  of  objects 
which  will  occur  in  the  long  circuit  of  a  morning  walk.  I 
assiduously  frequented  the  theatres  at  a  very  propitious  sera 
of  the  stage,  when  a  constellation  of  excellent  actors,  both  in 
tragedy  and  comedy,  was  eclipsed  by  the  meridian  brightness 
of  Garrick  in  the  maturity  of  his  judgment,  and  vigour  of  his 
performance.1  The  pleasures  of  a  town-life  are  within  the 
reach  of  every  man  who  is  regardless  of  his  health,  his  money, 
and  his  company.  By  the  contagion  of  example  I  was  some- 
times seduced  ;  but  the  better  habits,  which  I  had  formed  at 
Lausanne,  induced  me  to  seek  a  more  elegant  and  rational 
society ;  and  if  my  search  was  less  easy  and  successful  than  I 
might  have  hoped,  I  shall  at  present  impute  the  failure  to  the 
disadvantages  of  my  situation  and  character.  Had  the  rank 
and  fortune  of  my  parents  given  them  an  annual  establish- 

1  [In  1754,  between  Oct.  24  and  Nov.  27,  in  the  two  theatres  of  Drury  Lane 
and  Covent  Garden  nine  plays  of  Shakespeare  were  acted  in  nineteen  perform- 
ances, besides  thirty-seven  other  plays  by  different  authors — among  them 
Addison,  Gibber,  Congreve,  Gay,  Jonson,  Otway,  and  Rowe  (Gent.  Mag., 
Z7S4.  P-  S32)-  I  cannot  find  any  entry  for  1759,  the  space  being  taken  up 
by  war  news  and  war  lists.] 


1758-Go]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  115 

ment  in  London,  their  own  house  would  have  introduced  me 
to  a  numerous  and  polite  circle  of  acquaintance.  But  my 
father's  taste  had  always  preferred  the  highest  and  the  lowest 
company,  for  which  he  was  equally  qualified  l  ;  and  after  a 
twelve  years'  retirement,  he  was  no  longer  in  the  memory  of  the 
great  with  whom  he  had  associated.  I  found  myself  a  stranger 
in  the  midst  of  a  vast  and  unknown  city  ;  and  at  my  entrance 
into  life  I  was  reduced  to  some  dull  family  parties,  and  some 
scattered  connections,  which  were  not  such  as  I  should  have 
chosen  for  myself.  The  most  useful  friends  of  my  father  were 
the  Mallets  :  they  received  me  with  civility  and  kindness  at 
first  on  his  account,  and  afterwards  on  my  own  ;  and  (if  I  may 
use  Lord  Chesterfield's  words)  I  was  soon  domesticated "-'  in  their 
house.  Mr.  Mallet,  a  name  among  the  English  poets,  is 
praised  by  an  unforgiving  enemy,  for  the  ease  and  elegance  of 
his  conversation,3  and  his  wife  was  not  destitute  of  wit  or 
learning.4  By  his  assistance  I  was  introduced  to  Lady 
Hervey,  the  mother  of  the  present  Earl  of  Bristol.  Her 
age  and  infirmities  confined  her  at  home  ;  her  dinners  were 
select  ;  in  the  evening  her  house  was  open  to  the  best 
company  of  both  sexes  and  all  nations  ;  nor  was  I  displeased 
at  her  preference  and  even  affectation  of  the  manners,  the 


1  [  "  My  father  had  always  delighted  in  a  club  of  peers  or  of  farmers,  for  which 
he  was  equally  qualified  "  (Auto. ,  p.  245  ;  see  post,  p.  i36).] 

2  [Perhaps  Gibbon  refers  to  Chesterfield's  letter  to  his  son,  dated  March  29, 
1750  (ed.  1774,  iii. ,  2),  where,  speaking  of  a  certain  house,  he  says  :  "  Domes- 
ticate yourself  there  while  you  stay  at  Naples  ".] 

:i[  "  His  conversation  was  easy  and  elegant.  The  rest  of  his  character  may, 
without  injury  to  his  memory,  sink  into  silence"  (Johnson's  Works,  viii. ,  468). 
Johnson,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  was  not  his  personal  enemy.] 

i  ["  Mallet's  second  wife  was  the  daughter  of  a  nobleman's  steward,  who  had 
a  considerable  fortune,  which  she  took  care  to  retain  in  her  own  hands  "  (id. , 
p.  467).  The  following  entry  is  in  The  Gent.  Mag.  for  1742,  p.  546  :  "  Oct.  7, 
1742.  David  Mallet  Esq.  Under-Secretary  to  the  Pr.  of  Wales  to  Miss  Lucy 
Elstob  with  ^10,000."  I  have  seen  the  following  entry  in  Mrs.  Piozzi's  hand- 
writing :  "  D.  Mallet  married  a  Miss  Elstob— a  famous  wit  and  an  infidel  ". 

"  I  never,"  wrote  Lord  Charlemont,  "  saw  Hume  so  much  disconcerted  as 
by  the  petulance  of  Mrs.  Mallet.  This  lady,  who  was  not  acquainted  with  him, 
meeting  him  at  an  assembly  boldly  accosted  him  in  these  words  :  '  Mr.  Hume, 
give  me  leave  to  introduce  myself  to  you  ;  we  deists  ought  to  know  each  other  '. 
'  Madame,'  replied  he,  '  I  am  no  deist.  I  do  not  style  myself  so,  neither  do 
I  desire  to  be  known  by  that  appellation  '  "  (Life  of  C harlemont ',  i. ,  235). 

For  a  curious  description  of  her  by  Gibbon  see  Corres.,  i. ,  315.] 


116  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1 758-60 

language,  and  the  literature  of  France.1  But  my  progress  in 
the  English  world  was  in  general  left  to  my  own  efforts,  and 
those  efforts  were  languid  and  slow.  I  had  not  been  endowed 
by  art  or  nature  with  those  happy  gifts  of  confidence  and 
address,  which  unlock  every  door  and  every  bosom  ;  nor 
would  it  be  reasonable  to  complain  of  the  just  consequences 
of  my  sickly  childhood,  foreign  education,  and  reserved 
temper.  While  coaches  were  rattling  through  Bond-street,  I 
have  passed  many  a  solitary  evening  in  my  lodging  with  my 
books.  My  studies  were  sometimes  interrupted  by  a  sigh, 
which  I  breathed  towards  Lausanne  ;  and  on  the  approach  of 
Spring,  I  withdrew  without  reluctance  from  the  noisy  and 
extensive  scene  of  crowds  without  company,  and  dissipation 
without  pleasure.  In  each  of  the  twenty-five  years  of  my 
acquaintance  with  London  (1758  — 1783)  the  prospect  grad- 
ually brightened  ;  and  this  unfavourable  picture  most  properly 
belongs  to  the  first  period  after  my  return  from  Switzerland. 

My  father's  residence  in  Hampshire,  where  I  have  passed 
many  light,  and  some  heavy  hours,  was  at  Buriton,  near 
Petersfield,  one  mile  from  the  Portsmouth  road,  and  at  the 
easy  distance  of  fifty-eight  miles  from  London.'2  An  old 
mansion,  in  a  state  of  decay,  had  been  converted  into  the 
fashion  and  convenience  of  a  modern  house  :  and  if  strangers 

1[Lady  Hervey  was  "Molly  Lepell ".  Gay,  in  his  Mr.  Pope's  Welcome 
from  Greece,  had  described  her  as  : — 

"  Youth's  youngest  daughter,  sweet  Lepell." 

iWarton's  Pope's  Works,  ed.  1822,  ii. ,  354.) 

Pope,  in  his  Answer  to  the  Following  Question  of  Mrs.  How  :  What  is 
Prudery  ?  had  written  : — 

"  'Tis  an  ugly  envious  Shrew, 
That  rails  at  dear  Lepell  and  You  " 

[ii.,  ii.,  314). 

Lord  Chesterfield  wrote  to  his  son  in  1750  :  "  Lady  Hervey,  to  my  great  joy, 
because  to  your  great  advantage,  passes  all  this  winter  at  Paris.  She  has  been 
bred  all  her  life  at  Courts,  of  which  she  has  acquired  all  the  easy  good-breeding 
and  politeness,  without  the  frivolousness.  She  has  all  the  reading  that  a 
woman  should  have,  and  more  than  any  woman  need  have ;  for  she  under- 
stands Latin  perfectly  well,  though  she  wisely  conceals  it "  (Chesterfield's 
Letters,  iii. ,  54).] 

-  The  estate  and  manor  of  Beriton,  otherwise  Buriton,  were  considerable, 
and  were  sold  a  few  years  ago  to  Lord  Stawell. — Sheffield.  [They  were  sold 
in  1789  for  ,£16,000  (Corres.,  ii.,  189  ;  see  ante,  p.  37 


17.58-60]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  117 

had  nothing  to  see,  the  inhabitants  had  little  to  desire.  The 
spot  was  not  happily  chosen,  at  the  end  of  the  village  and  the 
bottom  of  the  hill :  but  the  aspect  of  the  adjacent  grounds 
was  various  and  cheerful  ;  the  downs  commanded  a  noble 
prospect,  and  the  long  hanging  woods  in  sight  of  the  house 
could  not  perhaps  have  been  improved  by  art  or  expence. 
My  father  kept  in  his  own  hands  the  whole  of  the  estate,  and 
even  rented  some  additional  land  ;  and  whatsoever  might  be 
the  balance  of  profit  and  loss,  the  farm  supplied  him  with 
amusement  and  plenty.  The  produce  maintained  a  number 
of  men  and  horses,  which  were  multiplied  by  the  intermixture 
of  domestic  and  rural  servants  ;  and  in  the  intervals  of  labour 
the  favourite  team,  a  handsome  set  of  bays  or  greys,  was 
harnessed  to  the  coach.  The  ceconomy  of  the  house  was 
regulated  by  the  taste  and  prudence  of  Mrs.  Gibbon.  She 
prided  herself  in  the  elegance  of  her  occasional  dinners  ;  and 
from  the  uncleanly  avarice  of  Madame  Pavilliard,  I  was  sud- 
denly transported  to  the  daily  neatness  and  luxury  of  an 
English  table.  Our  immediate  neighbourhood  was  rare  and 
rustic  ;  but  from  the  verge  of  our  hills,  as  far  as  Chichester 
and  Goodwood,  the  western  district  of  Sussex  was  interspersed 
with  noble  seats  and  hospitable  families,  with  whom  we  cul- 
tivated a  friendly,  and  might  have  enjoyed  a  very  frequent, 
intercourse.  As  my  stay  at  Buriton  was  always  voluntary,  I 
was  received  and  dismissed  with  smiles  ;  but  the  comforts  of 
my  retirement  did  not  depend  on  the  ordinary  pleasures  of 
the  country.  My  father  could  never  inspire  me  with  his  love 
and  knowledge  of  farming.  I  never  handled  a  gun,1  I  seldom 
mounted  an  horse  ;  and  my  philosophic  walks  were  soon 
terminated  by  a  shady  bench,  where  I  was  long  detained  by 
the    sedentary  amusement    of   reading  or  meditation.2      At 

1["  It  is  the  peculiar  praise  of  the  Roman  jurisprudence  that  it  asserts  the 
claim  of  the  first  occupant  to  the  wild  animals  of  the  earth,  the  air  and  the 
waters"  (The Decline,  iv. ,  435).] 

2  [Sainte-Beuve,  after  quoting  this  passage,  continues  :  "  Le  sentiment  de  la 
nature  champetre  n'est  pas  etranger  a  Gibbon  ;  il  y  a  dans  ses  Mimoirts  deux 
ou  trois  endroits  qui  pretent  a  la  reverie  :  le  passage  que  je  viens  de  citer,  par 
exemple,  toute  cette  page  qui  nous  rend  un  joli  tableau  dela  vie  anglaise,  posee, 


118  EDWARD  GIBBOX  [i758-6o 

home  I  occupied  a  pleasant  and  spacious  apartment  ;  the 
library  on  the  same  floor  was  soon  considered  as  my  particular 
domain  ;  and  I  might  say  with  truth,  that  I  was  never  less 
alone  than  when  by  myself.1  My  sole  complaint,  which  I 
piously  suppressed,  arose  from  the  kind  restraint  imposed  on 
the  freedom  of  my  time.  By  the  habit  of  early  rising  I  always 
secured  a  sacred  portion  of  the  day.  and  many  scattered 
moments  were  stolen  and  employed  by  my  studious  industry. 
But  the  family  hours  of  breakfast,  of  dinner,  of  tea,  and  of 
supper,  were  regular  and  long :  after  breakfast  Mrs.  Gibbon 
expected  my  company  in  her  dressing-room  :  after  tea  my 
father  claimed  my  conversation  and  the  perusal  of  the  news- 
papers ;  and  in  the  midst  of  an  interesting  work  I  was  often 
called  down  to  receive  the  visit  of  some  idle  neighbours.- 
Their  dinners  and  visits  required,  in  due  season,  a  simdar 
return  :  and  I  dreaded  the  period  of  the  full  moon,  which  was 
usually  reserved  for  our  more  distant  excursions.  I  could  not 
refuse  attending  my  father,  in  the  summer  of  1759,  to  the 
races  at  Stockbridge,  Reading,  and  Odiam.  where  he  had 
entered  a  horse  for  the  hunter's  plate  ;  and  I  was  not  dis- 
pleased with  the  sight  of  our  Olympic  games,  the  beautv  of 


reg'  -  -Beuve  goes  on  to  refer  to  the  fine  passage  where  the 

I  down  his  pen  as  he  finished  the  last  lines  of  his  History  [post,  p. 
225),  and  continues  :  -     ians  tons  ces  passages,  c' est  encore  le  studieux 

chez  Gibbon  qui  goute  la  nature  "  (Cauj.  ,  443  (. ] 

1  ["  P.  S-:  -m  qui  primus  Africanus  appellatus  est,  dicere 

solinim  s  ato,  qui  f  is,  nunquam  se  minus  otiosum  esse 

quar  lum  quam  quum  solus  esset "  (Cicero,  De 

: 
'. :  was  accounted  the  peculiar  of  philosophers  and  wise  men  to  be  able  to 
d  talk.     And  ::  -vas  their  boast  on  this  account,  'That  they 
were  ne  :ne  than  when  by  themselves '  "  (Shaftesbury's  Cfu: 

ed.  1714. 

rrote  suffered  in  the  same  way.     At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  recorded  : 

" '  My  studies  have  not  lately  been  so  regular  as  they  might  have  been.  ...  A 

nun.  .  ..        resent  artificial  state  of  society  absolutely 

imprison  me  to  such  an  extent  that  I  can  enjoy  bal  little  solitude.     And  it 

is  c_.  ..ed  to  the  last  degree  to  a  mind  which  has  a  glimpse  of  a  nobler 

rre  of  action,  to  witness  the  :  !lect  which  disgraces 

general  c  ie,  ed.   1S73,  p.  13).     A  year  later  he  wrote  : 

Mai  waste  of  1  _     beyond  measure,  and  longed  for 

:use  and  my  hours  should  be  under  my  command"  (ib.t 

p.  z: 


1758-60]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  119 

the  spot,  the  fleetness  of  the  horses,  and  the  gay  tumult  of  the 
numerous  spectators.  As  soon  as  the  militia  business  was 
agitated  many  days  were  tediously  consumed  in  meetings  of 
deputy-lieutenants  at  Petersfield,  Alton,  and  Winchester.1  In 
the  close  of  the  same  year,  1759,  Sir  Simeon  (then  Mr.) 
Stewart  attempted  an  unsuccessful  contest  for  the  county  of 
Southampton,  against  Mr.  Legge,  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  : 
a  well-known  contest,  in  which  Lord  Bute's  influence  was  first 
exerted  and  censured.2  Our  canvas  at  Portsmouth  and  Gosport 
lasted  several  days  ;  but  the  interruption  of  my  studies  was 
compensated  in  some  degree  by  the  spectacle  of  English 
manners,  and  the  acquisition  of  some  practical  knowledge. 

If  in  a  more  domestic  or  more  dissipated  scene  my  application 
was  somewhat  relaxed,  the  love  of  knowledge  was  inflamed 
and  gratified  by  the  command  of  books  ;  and  I  compared  the 
poverty  of  Lausanne  with  the  plenty  of  London.  My  father's 
study  at   Buriton  was   stuffed   with   much  trash   of  the   last 


1  [Post,  p.  134.  Blackstone,  writing  of  the  Militia  Act  of  1757,  says  :  "  The 
general  scheme  is  to  discipline  a  certain  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  every 
county,  chosen  by  lot  for  three  years,  and  officered  by  the  Lord  Lieutenant,  the 
Deputy  Lieutenants,  and  other  principal  landholders,  under  a  commission  from 
the  Crown"  {Commentaries,  ed.  1775,  i. ,  412). 

Lord  Chesterfield  wrote  to  his  son  on  Sept.  23,  1757  :  "  You  may  remember 
I  said  at  first,  that  the  popularity  would  soon  be  on  the  side  of  those  who 
opposed  the  popular  Militia  Bill ;  and  now  it  appears  so  with  a  vengeance  in 
almost  every  county  of  England,  by  the  tumults  and  insurrections  of  the  people, 
who  swear  that  they  will  not  be  inlisted  "  {Letters  to  his  Son,  iv.,  95).  In  the 
East  Riding  of  Yorkshire  "  farmers  and  country  people,  out  of  forty  townships, 
armed  with  guns,  scythes  and  clubs,  rose  on  account  of  the  Act  "  [Gent.  Mag., 
1757,  p.  431).  Two  of  these  rioters  were  hanged,  and  four  transported  for  life 
(id.,  1758,  p.  239).  In  the  same  Magazine,  July,  1759.  P-  34*.  it  is  stated  that, 
under  the  threat  of  a  French  invasion,  "the  militia  that  have  been  raised 
and  disciplined  have  been  marched  to  the  places  of  greatest  danger".] 

-  [It  was  a  bye-election.  Legge,  who  as  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  had 
provided  the  funds  for  Pitt's  armaments,  resigned  his  seat  for  Oxford,  so  as  to 
stand.  Horace  Walpole  describes  this  election  as  "  an  incident  that  led  to  a 
discovery  of  some  of  the  secret  politics  of  the  Heir-apparent's  Court  "  (Mem 
of  George  II.,  ii. ,  399).  Burke  describes  the  growth  of  influe?ice  under  Bute  in 
Thoughts  on  the  Cause  of  the  Present  Discontents  (Burke's  Select  Works,  ed.  E. 
J.  Payne,  i. ,  10).     The  Gibbons,  as  Tories,  supported  Stewart. 

Gray,  on  April  22,  1760,  described  a  duel  between  Stewart  and  the  Duke  of 
Bolton  :  "  They  met  near  Mary-le-bone,  and  the  D.,  in  making  a  pass,  over- 
reached himself,  fell  down  and  hurt  his  knee  ;  the  other  bid  him  get  up,  but  he 
could  not ;  then  he  bid  him  ask  his  life,  but  he  would  not ;  so  he  let  him  alone, 
and  that's  all.  Mr.  Stewart  was  slightly  wounded  "  (Mitford's  Gray's  Worts, 
iii.,  238).     The  Duke  was  Lord  Lieutenant  of  the  county  (post,  p.  136).] 


120  EDWARD  GIBBON  [i758-6o 

age,  with  much  high  church  divinity  and  politics,  which  have 
long  since  gone  to  their  proper  place  x  :  yet  it  contained  some 
valuable  editions  of  the  classics  and  the  fathers,  the  choice, 
as  it  should  seem,  of  Mr.  Law  ;  and  many  English  publica- 
tions of  the  times  had  been  occasionally  added.  From  this 
slender  beginning  I  have  gradually  formed  a  numerous  and 
select  library,  the  foundation  of  my  works,  and  the  best 
comfort  of  my  life,  both  at  home  and  abroad.  On  the  receipt 
of  the  first  quarter,  a  large  share  of  my  allowance  was  ap- 
propriated to  my  literary  wants.  I  cannot  forget  the  joy  with 
which  I  exchanged  a  bank-note  of  twenty  pounds  for  the 
twenty  volumes  of  the  Memoirs  of  the  Academy  of  Inscriptions  ; 
nor  would  it  have  been  easy,  by  any  other  expenditure  of 
the  same  sum,  to  have  procured  so  large  and  lasting  a  fund 
of  rational  amusement.  At  a  time  when  I  most  assiduously 
frequented  this  school  of  ancient  literature,  I  thus  expressed 
my  opinion  of  a  learned  and  various  collection,  which  since 
the  year  1759  has  been  doubled  in  magnitude,  though  not 
in  merit.2  "  Une  de  ces  societes,  qui  ont  mieux  immortalise 
Louis  XIV.  qu'une  ambition  souvent  pernicieuse  aux  hommes, 
commencait  de*ja  ces  recherches  qui  reunissent  la  justesse  de 
l'esprit,  l'amenite  et  1 'erudition  :  ou  Ton  voit  tant  de  decou- 
vertes,  et  quelquefois,  ce  qui  ne  cede  qu'a  peine  aux  decou- 
vertes,  une  ignorance  modeste  et  savante." 3  The  review  of 
my  library  must  be  reserved  for  the  period  of  its  maturity  ; 
but  in  this  place  I  may  allow  myself  to  observe,  that  I  am 
not  conscious  of  having  ever  bought  a  book  from  a  motive 


1  [Gibbon,  describing  the  pillage  of  the  libraries  of  Constantinople  by  the 
Turks,  says  :  "  Ten  volumes  might  be  purchased  for  a  single  ducat  ;  and  the 
same  ignominious  price,  too  high  perhaps  for  a  shelf  of  theology,  included  the 
whole  works  of  Aristotle  and  Homer,  the  noblest  productions  of  the  science  and 
literature  of  ancient  Greece"  {The  Decline,  vii. ,  198).] 

2  [Gibbon  quotes  from  his  Essai  sur  I' Etude  de  la  Litt6rature  (Misc.  Works, 
iv.,  19).] 

3  ["  Cette  Acad^miedes  Inscriptions  et  Belles-lettres  est  proprement  la  patrie 
intellectuelle  de  Gibbon  ;  il  y  habite  en  id£e,  il  en  etudie  les  travaux  originaux 
ou  solides  rendus  avec  justesse  et  parfois  avec  agr^ment ;  il  en  appr^cie  les 
d^couvertes,  '  et  surtout  ce  qui  ne  cede  qu'a  peine  aux  decouvertes,  dit-il  en 
veritable  Attique,  une  ignorance  modeste  et  savante  '  "  ( Causeries  du  Lundi,  viii. , 
444)0 


1758-60]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  121 

of  ostentation,  that  every  volume,  before  it  was  deposited  on 
the  shelf,  was  either  read  or  sufficiently  examined,  and  that 
I  soon  adopted  the  tolerating  maxim  of  the  elder  Pliny, 
"  nullum  esse  librum  tam  malum  ut  non  ex  aliqua  parte 
prodesset  ".1  I  could  not  yet  find  leisure  or  courage  to  renew 
the  pursuit  of  the  Greek  language,  excepting  by  reading  the 
lessons  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  every  Sunday,  when 
I  attended  the  family  to  church.2  The  series  of  my  Latin 
authors  was  less  strenuously  completed  ;  but  the  acquisition, 
by  inheritance  or  purchase,  of  the  best  editions  of  Cicero, 
Quintilian,  Livy,  Tacitus,  Ovid,  etc.,  afforded  a  fair  prospect, 
which  I  seldom  neglected.  I  persevered  in  the  useful  method 
of  abstracts  and  observations  ;  and  a  single  example  may 
suffice,  of  a  note  which  had  almost  swelled  into  a  work.  The 
solution  of  a  passage  of  Livy  (xxxviii.,  38),  involved  me  in 
the  dry  and  dark  treatises  of  Greaves,  Arbuthnot,  Hooper, 
Bernard,  Eisenschmidt,  Gronovius,  La  Barre,  Freret,  etc.3  ;  and 
in  my  French  essay  (chap.  20),  I  ridiculously  send  the  reader 
to  my  own  manuscript  remarks  on  the  weights,  coins,  and 
measures  of  the  ancients,4  which  were  abruptly  terminated 
by  the  militia  drum. 

As  I  am  now  entering  on  a  more  ample  field  of  society  and 
study,  I  can  only  hope  to  avoid  a  vain  and  prolix  garrulity, 
by  overlooking  the  vulgar  crowd  of  my  acquaintance,  and 
confining  myself  to  such  intimate  friends  among  books  and 
men,  as  are  best  entitled  to  my  notice  by  their  own  merit 
and  reputation,  or  by  the  deep  impression  which  they  have 

1  [The  younger  Pliny  wrote  of  his  uncle  :  "  Nihil  enim  legit  quod  non  excer- 
peret  ;  dicere  etiam  solebat  nullum  esse  librum  tam  malum,  ut  non  aliqua  parte 
prodesset  "  (Epist.,  iii. ,  5,  10).] 

2  [They  commonly  went  twice  to  church  every  Sunday.  This  reading,  with 
the  study  that  it  led  to  at  home,  began,  or,  at  all  events,  increased,  his  doubts. 
Towards  the  end  of  1759  he  read  Grotius's  De  Veritate  Rcligionis  Christiana, 
and  his  scepticism  was  only  the  more  confirmed  (A  uto. ,  p.  249). 

Grotius  was  one  of  the  three  writers  whom  Johnson  said  he  "  would  recom- 
mend to  every  man  whose  faith  is  yet  unsettled"  (Boswell's  Johnson,  i. ,  398. 
See  also  ib.,  i. ,  454).] 

3  [This  passage  of  Livy  Gibbon  refers  to  in  his  Principes  des  Poids,  des 
Monnaies,  etc.  [Misc.  Works,  v.  73).  At  the  beginning  of  the  same  essay  he 
gives  a  brief  account  of  most  of  these  writers  (ib.,  p.  67).] 

4  ["  V.  mes  Rem.  MSS.  sur  les  poids,  etc.,  des  anciens  "  (ib.,  iv. ,  34).] 


122  EDWARD  GIBBON  [i758-6o 

left  on  my  mind.  Yet  I  will  embrace  this  occasion  of  re- 
commending to  the  young  student  a  practice,  which  about 
this  time  I  myself  adopted.  After  glancing  my  eye  over  the 
design  and  order  of  a  new  book,  I  suspended  the  perusal  till 
I  had  finished  the  task  of  self-examination,  till  I  had  revolved, 
in  a  solitary  walk,  all  that  I  knew  or  believed,  or  had  thought 
on  the  subject  of  the  whole  work,  or  of  some  particular 
chapter :  I  was  then  qualified  to  discern  how  much  the 
author  added  to  my  original  stock  ;  and  if  I  was  sometimes 
satisfied  by  the  agreement,  I  was  sometimes  armed  by  the 
opposition  of  our  ideas.  The  favourite  companions  of  my 
leisure  were  our  English  writers  since  the  Revolution :  they 
breathe  the  spirit  of  reason  and  liberty  ;  and  they  most 
seasonably  contributed  to  restore  the  purity  of  my  own 
language,  which  had  been  corrupted  by  the  long  use  of  a 
foreign  idiom.  By  the  judicious  advice  of  Mr.  Mallet,  I  was 
directed  to  the  writings  of  Swift  and  Addison  ;  wit  and  sim- 
plicity are  their  common  attributes  :  but  the  style  of  Swift 
is  supported  by  manly  original  vigour  ;  that  of  Addison  is 
adorned  by  the  female  graces  of  elegance  and  mildness.  The 
old  reproach,  that  no  British  altars  had  been  raised  to  the 
muse  of  history,1  was  recently  disproved  by  the  first  perfor- 
mances of  Robertson  and  Hume,  the  histories  of  Scotland 
and  of  the  Stuarts.  I  will  assume  the  presumption  of  saying, 
that  I  was  not  unworthy  to  read  them  :  nor  will  I  disguise 
my  different  feelings  in  the  repeated  perusals.  The  perfect 
composition,  the  nervous  language,  the  well-turned  periods 
of  Dr.  Robertson,  inflamed  me  to  the  ambitious  hope  that 
I  might  one  day  tread  in  his  footsteps  :  the  calm  philosophy, 
the  careless,  inimitable  beauties  of  his  friend  and  rival,  often 
forced  me  to  close  the  volume  with  a  mixed  sensation  of 
delight  and  despair.2 

The  design  of  my  first  work,  the  Essay  on  the  Study  of 
Literature,  was  suggested  by  a  refinement  of  vanity,  the  desire 
of  justifying  and  praising  the  object  of  a  favourite  pursuit. 

1  [See  Appendix  21.]  2  [lb,,  22.     Post,  195.] 


i758-()0]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  123 

In  France,  to  which  my  ideas  were  confined,  the  learning  and 
language  of  Greece  and  Rome  were  neglected  by  a  philosophic 
age.  The  guardian  of  those  studies,  the  Academy  of  Inscrip- 
tions, was  degraded  to  the  lowest  rank  among  the  three  royal 
societies  of  Paris  :  the  new  appellation  of  Erudits  was  con- 
temptuously applied  to  the  successors  of  Lipsius  and  Casaubon,1 
and  I  was  provoked  to  hear  (see  M.  d'Alembert,  Discours 
preliminaire  a  I' Encyclopedic)  that  the  exercise  of  the  memory, 
their  sole  merit,  had  been  superseded  by  the  nobler  faculties 
of  the  imagination  and  the  judgment.2  I  was  ambitious  of 
proving  by  my  own  example,  as  well  as  by  my  precepts,  that 
all  the  faculties  of  the  mind  may  be  exercised  and  displayed 
by  the  study  of  ancient  literature :  I  began  to  select  and 
adorn  the  various  proofs  and  illustrations  which  had  offered 
themselves  in  reading  the  classics ;  and  the  first  pages  or 
chapters  of  my  essay  were  composed  before  my  departure 
from  Lausanne.  The  hurry  of  the  journey,  and  of  the  first 
weeks  of  my  English  life,  suspended  all  thoughts  of  serious 
application :  but  my  object  was  ever  before  my  eyes  ;  and  no 
more  than  ten  days,  from  the  first  to  the  eleventh  of  July, 
were  suffered  to  elapse  after  my  summer  establishment  at 
Buriton.  My  essay  was  finished  in  about  six  weeks ;  and  as 
soon  as  a  fair  copy  had  been  transcribed  by  one  of  the  French 
prisoners  at  Petersfield,3  I  looked  round  for  a  critic  and  judge 
of  my  first  performance.      A  writer  can  seldom  be  content 

1  [Gibbon  says  in  his  Essay :  "  Nos  beaux-esprits  out  senti  quels  avantages 
leur  reviendraient  de  l'ignorance  de  leurs  lecteurs.  lis  ont  comble'  de  m£pris 
les  anciens,  et  ceux  qui  les  etudient  encore.  On  a  ote  a  cette  6tude  le  nom  de 
Belles-Lettres,  qu'une  longue  prescription  semblait  lui  avoir  consacr£,  pour  y 
substituer  celui  d'erudition.     Nos  litterateurs  sont  devenus  des  6rudits"  (Misc. 

Works,  iv. ,  20).] 

2  ["  La  division  g£n£rale  de  nos  connaissances,  suivant  nos  trois  facult^s,  a  cet 
avantage,  quelle  pourrait  fournir  aussi  les  trois  divisions  du  monde  litteraire, 
en  irudits,  philosophes  et  beaux-esprits.  .  .  .  La  memoire  est  le  talent  des 
premiers,  la  sagacite  appartient  aux  seconds,  et  les  derniers  ont  l'agrement  en 
partage,"  etc.  (CEuvres  de  D' A/emberf,  ed.  1805,  i. ,  242). 

Voltaire  writes  in  his  Steele  de  Louis  XI V  (chap,  xxxiv. )  :  "  II  n'y  a  pas  un 
ancien  philosophe  qui  serve  aujourd'hui  [1740]  a  l'instruction  de  la  jeunesse 
chez  les  nations  ^clairees.  .   .  ."  (CEuvres,  xviii.,  276).] 

3  [At  the  end  of  the  following  year  (1759)  a  large  subscription  was  raised  for 
cloathing  the  French  prisoners,  "who  were  perishing  with  cold"  (Boswell's 
Johnson,  i.,  353,  «.),] 


124  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1758-60 

with  the  doubtful  recompence  of  solitary  approbation  J  ;  but  a 
youth  ignorant  of  the  world,  and  of  himself,  must  desire  to 
weigh  his  talents  in  some  scales  less  partial  than  his  own  : 
my  conduct  was  natural,  my  motive  laudable,  my  choice  of 
Dr.  Maty  judicious  and  fortunate.  By  descent  and  education 
Dr.  Maty,  though  born  in  Holland,  might  be  considered  as  a 
Frenchman  ;  but  he  was  fixed  in  London  by  the  practice  of 
physic,  and  an  office  in  the  British  Museum.2  His  reputation 
was  justly  founded  on  the  eighteen  volumes  of  the  Journal 
Britannique,  which  he  had  supported,  almost  alone,  with  per- 
severance and  success.  This  humble  though  useful  labour, 
which  had  once  been  dignified  by  the  genius  of  Bayle  and  the 
learning  of  Le  Clerc,3  was  not  disgraced  by  the  taste,  the 
knowledge,  and  the  judgment  of  Maty :  he  exhibits  a  candid 
and  pleasing  view  of  the  state  of  literature  in  England  during 
a  period  of  six  years  (January,  1750 — December,  1755) 4; 
and,  far  different  from  his  angry  son,5  he  handles  the  rod  of 
criticism   with   the  tenderness  and   reluctance   of  a   parent. 

'["The  author  himself  is  the  best  judge  of  his  own  performance"  (Post, 
p.  191).] 

2  [In  The  Gent.  Mag.  for  July,  1756,  p.  362,  is  a  list  of  the  staff  of  the 
British  Museum — one  Principal  Keeper,  three  Librarians,  of  whom  Maty  was 
second,  and  three  Assistants.  How  much  science  preponderated  in  the  founda- 
tion is  shown  by  the  Keeper  and  the  first  two  Librarians  being  Doctors  of 
Medicine.  In  the  Magazine  for  Dec,  1758,  p.  629,  are  given  the  rules  for  ad- 
mission, under  which  visitors  long  suffered.] 

:!  [Bayle  in  1684  began  his  Nouvelles  de  la  Rdpublique  des  Lettres,  and  Le 
Clerc  in  1686  his  Bibliothtqiie  Universelle  et  Historique.] 

4  [It  was  a  monthly  publication  in  i2mo,  published  at  the  Hague.  Each 
volume  contained  four  numbers.  Johnson,  in  1755,  having  finished  his 
Dictionary,  was  thinking  of  undertaking  a  Review.  "  Dr.  Adams  suggested, 
that  as  Dr.  Maty  had  just  then  finished  his  Bibliotheque  Britannique,  which 
was  a  well-executed  work,  giving  foreigners  an  account  of  British  publications, 
he  might,  with  great  advantage,  assume  him  as  an  assistant.  '  He  (said 
Johnson),  the  little  black  dog!  I'd  throw  him  into  the  Thames'"  (Boswell's 
Johnson,  i. ,  284).] 

5  [Paul  Henry  Maty,  editor  of  The  New  Review.  Cowper  wrote  of  him  in 
1786  :  "  I  have  authentic  intelligence  of  his  being  a  critical  character  in  all  its 
forms,  acute,  sour,  and  blunt ;  and  so  incorruptible  withal,  and  so  unsusceptible 
of  bias  from  undue  motives,  that,  as  my  correspondent  informs  me,  he  would  not 
praise  his  own  mother,  did  he  not  think  she  deserved  it "  (Southey's  Cowper,  v. , 
245).  Maty  reviewed  the  specimen  of  the  poet's  Homer.  "His  animad- 
versions," Cowper  wrote,  "in  part  appeared  to  me  unjust,  and  in  part  ill- 
natured  ;  and  yet  the  man  himself  being  an  oracle  in  everybody's  account,  1 
apprehended  that  he  had  done  me  much  mischief"  (id.,  p.  309).] 


1758-60]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  125 

The  author  of  the  Journal  Britannique  sometimes  aspires  to  the 
character  of  a  poet  and  philosopher  :  his  style  is  pure  and 
elegant ;  and  in  his  virtues,  or  even  in  his  defects,  he  may  be 
ranked  as  one  of  the  last  disciples  of  the  school  of  Fontenelle.1 
His  answer  to  my  first  letter  was  prompt  and  polite  :  after  a 
careful  examination  he  returned  my  manuscript,  with  some 
animadversion  and  much  applause ;  and  when  I  visited 
London  in  the  ensuing  winter,  we  discussed  the  design  and  ex- 
ecution in  several  free  and  familiar  conversations.  In  a  short 
excursion  to  Buriton  I  reviewed  my  essay,  according  to  his 
friendly  advice  ;  and  after  suppressing  a  third,  adding  a  third, 
and  altering  a  third,  1  consummated  my  first  labour  by  a  short 
preface,  which  is  dated  February  3,  1759.2  Yet  I  still  shrunk 
from  the  press  with  the  terroi's  of  virgin  modesty  :  the  manu- 
script was  safely  deposited  in  my  desk  ;  and  as  my  attention 
was  engaged  by  new  objects,  the  delay  might  have  been  pro- 
longed till  I  had  fulfilled  the  precept  of  Horace,  "  nonumque 
prematur  in  annum  ".3  Father  Sirmond,  a  learned  Jesuit, 
was  still  more  rigid,  since  he  advised  a  young  friend  to  expect 
the  mature  age  of  fifty,  before  he  gave  himself  or  his  writings 
to  the  public  (Olivet,  Histoire  de  l'Academie  Francaise,  torn, 
ii.  p.  143).  The  counsel  was  singular;  but  it  is  still  more 
singular  that  it  should  have  been  approved  by  the  example 
of  the  author.      Sirmond  was  himself  fifty-five  years  of  age 

1  [Grimm,  recording  Fontenelle's  death  on  Feb.  n,  1757,  has  left  an 
interesting  criticism  of  him  and  his  school.  He  attributes  to  him  "  le  m£rite 
reel  d'avoir  rendu  le  premier  la  philosophic  populaire  en  France.  ...  II  est 
vrai  que  M.  de  Fontenelle,  en  nous  eclairant  ainsi,  a  pens^  porter  un  coup 
funeste  au  gout  de  la  nation.  Son  style,  son  coloris  et  sa  maniere  d'ecrire 
offrent  une  vaste  carriere  au  faux  bel  esprit.  .  .  .  Pour  juger  de  la  grandeur 
du  peril  que  nous  avons  couru,  pour  sentir  combien  cette  maniere  qu'on  voulait 
6tablir  etait  detestable,  on  n'a  qu'a  lire  les  copistes  de  M.  de  Fontenelle  ;  rien 
n'est  plus  dtiplaisant,  ni  plus  insupportable  que  les  ouvrages  dont  ils  ont 
accable"  le  public.  .  .  .  Ce  grand  homme  [Voltaire]  est  venu  a  point  nomme' 
pour  arreter  les  progres  du  faux  bel  esprit"  (MS moires  Historiques,  etc.,  ed. 
1814,  i.,  334-5).] 

2[On  Dec.  30,  1758,  he  wrote:  "At  last  Maty  and  I  have  downright 
quarrelled.  He  behaved  so  very  contemptuously  to  me"  [Corres.,  i. ,  21). 
They  must  have  been  reconciled  later  on.  ] 

3[De  Arte  Poetica,  1.  388. 

"  Keep  your  piece  nine  years." 

(Pope,  Prol.  Sat.,  1.  40.)] 


12G  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1760-62 

when  he  published  (in  l6'l4)  his  first  work,  an  edition  of 
Sidonius  Apollinaris,  with  many  valuable  annotations  :  (see 
his  life,  before  the  great  edition  of  his  works  in  five  volumes 
folio,  Paris,  169^,  e  Typographic  Regia).1 

Two  years  elapsed  in  silence  :  but  in  the  spring  of  176 1  I 
yielded  to  the  authority  of  a  parent,  and  complied,  like  a 
pious  son,  with  the  wish  of  my  own  heart.2  My  private 
resolves  were  influenced  by  the  state  of  Europe.  About  this 
time  the  belligerent  powers  had  made  and  accepted  overtures 
of  peace  ;  our  English  plenipotentiai-ies  were  named  to  assist 
at  the  Congress  of  Augsburg,  which  never  met 3 ;  I  wished  to 
attend  them  as  a  gentleman  or  a  secretary  ;  and  my  father 
fondly  believed  that  the  proof  of  some  literary  talents  might 
introduce  me  to  public  notice,  and  second  the  recommenda- 
tions of  my  friends.  After  a  last  revisal  I  consulted  with 
Mr.  Mallet  and  Dr.  Maty,  who  approved  the  design  and 
promoted  the  execution.  Mr.  Mallet,  after  hearing  me  read 
my  manuscript,  received  it  from  my  hands,  and  delivered  it 
into  those  of  Becket,  with  whom  he  made  an  agreement  in 
my  name ;  an  easy  agreement :  I  required  only  a  certain 
number  of  copies4;  and,  without  transferring  my  property,  I 

1["Sirmond  ( Jacques),  j&uite,  ne"  vers  l'an  1559.  L'un  des  plus  savans  et 
des  plus  aimables  hommes  de  son  temps.  .  .  .  Ses  nombreux  ouvrages  furent 
tres  estim£s,  et  sont  tres  peu  lus.  Mort  en  1651"  [CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  xvii., 
168). 

Pattison  says  of  the  works  of  the  Jesuits  :  "  '  Learned'  they  are  entitled  to 
be  called  by  courtesy,  for  the  works  of  Schott,  Sirmond,  and  Petavius,  have 
all  the  attributes  of  learning  but  one — one,  to  want  which  leaves  all  learning  but 
a  tinkling  cymbal— that  is,  the  love  of  truth.  The  Jesuit  scholars  introduced 
into  philological  research  the  temper  of  unveracity  which  had  been  from  of  old 
the  literary  habit  of  their  Church.  An  interested  motive  lurks  beneath  each 
word ;  the  motive  of  Church  patriotism  "  [Life  of  Casaubon,  ed.  1892,  p.  462).] 

2 [In  an  interleaved  copy  Gibbon  wrote:  "  Mon  pere  voulut  me  le  faire 
publier  l'hiver  passe\  Ma  jeunesse,  et  un  fonds  d'orgueil,  qui  me  rend  beaucoup 
plus  sensible  aux  critiques  qu'aux  eloges,  m'empecherent  de  gouter  son  projet. 
Mais  me  trouvant  a  la  campagne  avec  lui  au  mois  de  Mars,  il  renouvella  ses 
instances  d'une  maniere  si  vive  que  je  ne  pus  m'en  deTendre"  [Misc.  Works, 
iv.,  1  ;  see.  post,  p.  242).] 

'•>["  March  7,  1761.  We  are  in  the  utmost  hopes  of  a  peace;  a  Congress  is 
agreed  upon  at  Augsbourg. 

"Aug.  17,  1761.  In  the  meantime,  adieu  peace!  France  has  refused  to 
submit  to  our  terms.  They  own  themselves  undone,  but  depend  on  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  war  for  revenging  them — not  by  arms,  but  by  exhausting  us" 
(Walpole's  Letters,  iii.,  381,  428).] 

4  [He  received  forty  {Misc.   Works,  iv.,  1).] 


1760-62]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  127 

devolved  on  the  bookseller  the  charges  and  profits  of  the 
edition.  Dr.  Maty  undertook,  in  ray  absence,  to  correct  the 
sheets  :  he  inserted,  without  my  knowledge,  an  elegant  and 
flattering  epistle  to  the  author ;  which  is  composed,  however, 
with  so  much  art,  that,  in  case  of  a  defeat,  his  favourable 
report  might  have  been  ascribed  to  the  indulgence  of  a  friend 
for  the  rash  attempt  of  a.  young  English  gentleman.  The  work 
was  printed  and  published,  under  the  title  of  Essai  sur  l'Etude 
de  la  Litterature,  k  Londres,  chez  T.  Becket  et  P.  A.  de 
Hondt,  1761,  in  a  small  volume  in  duodecimo  :  my  dedication 
to  my  father,  a  proper  and  pious  address,  was  composed  the 
twenty-eighth  of  May:  Dr.  Maty's  letter  is  dated  the  l6th 
of  June  ;  and  I  received  the  first  copy  (June  23)  at  Alresford, 
two  days  before  I  marched  with  the  Hampshire  militia. 
Some  weeks  afterwards,  on  the  same  ground,  I  presented  my 
book  to  the  late  Duke  of  York,1  who  breakfasted  in  Colonel 
Pitt's  tent.  By  my  father's  direction,  and  Mallet's  advice, 
my  literary  gifts  were  distributed  to  several  eminent  characters 
in  England  and  France ;  two  books  were  sent  to  the  Count 
de  Caylus,2  and  the  Duchesse  d'Aiguilloiv  at  Paris  :   I  had 

1  [The  following  is  from  a  letter  written  by  a  lady  in  January,  1789  ;  "  Here's 
two  anecdotes  of  the  wise  Duke  of  Cumberland  [the  brother  of  George  III.]  ; 
one  came  from  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  himself.  The  Duchess  was  sitting  for  her 
picture ;  the  Duke  came  in,  tumbled  about  the  room  in  his  awkward  manner, 
without  speaking  to  Sir  Joshua.  The  Duchess  thought  it  too  bad,  and 
whispered  to  him  her  opinion  ;  upon  which  he  came,  and  leaning  on  Sir 
Joshua's  chair  while  he  was  painting,  said,  '  What !  you  always  begin  with  the 
head  first,  do  you?'  And  once,  when  at  his  own  public  day  he  was  told  he 
ought  to  say  something  to  Mr.  Gibbon,  'So,'  says  he,  '  I  suppose  you  are  at 
the  old  trade  again— scribble,  scribble,  scribble'  "  {Auckland  Corres.,  ii.,  281). 

H.  D.  Best  in  his  Memorials,  p.  68,  makes  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  the  hero 
of  the  story.  When  Gibbon  brought  him  the  second  volume  of  the  Decline  and 
Fall,  "  he  received  him  with  much  good  nature  and  affability,  saying  to  him,  as 
he  laid  the  quarto  on  the  table,  '  Another  d— d  thick,  square  book !  Always 
scribble,  scribble,  scribble!  Eh!  Mr.  Gibbon?'" 

Horace  Walpole,  writing  in  1760  {Letters,  iii.,  347),  says  that  "  the  Duke  of 
York  was,  as  he  always  is,  extremely  good-humoured,"  so  that  Gibbon's  book 
was,  no  doubt,  kindly  received.] 

2  [Voltaire  (CEuvres,  x.,  195)  describes  Caylus  as  "  celebre  par  son  gout  pour 
les  arts.  ...  II  grave  lui-meme,  et  met  une  expression  singuliere  dans  ses 
dessins."     Gibbon  read  his  Dissertations  upon  Ancient  Painting,  etc.   {Misc. 

Works,  iii.,  79;  v.,  214).     Seepost,  Appendix  28.] 

3["  Cette  dame,  surnommge  la  sceur  du  pot  par  les  philosophes  a  qui  elle 
donnait  a  diner,  et  de  qui  elle  aimait  a  Stre  entour^e,  6tait  remplie  d'esprit,  de 
grace,  de  beaut<§"  (CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  lxiii.,  57).] 


128  EDWARD  GIBBON  [i  760-62 

reserved  twenty  copies  for  my  friends  at  Lausanne,  as  the 
first  fruits  of  my  education,  and  a  grateful  token  of  my 
remembrance :  and  on  all  these  persons  I  levied  an  un- 
avoidable tax  of  civility  and  compliment.  It  is  not  sm*prising 
that  a  work,  of  which  the  style  and  sentiments  were  so  totally 
foreign,  should  have  been  more  successful  abroad  than  at 
home.  I  was  delighted  by  the  copious  extracts,  the  warm 
commendations,  and  the  flattering  predictions  of  the  Journals 
of  France  and  Holland  :  and  the  next  year  (1762)  a  new 
edition  (I  believe  at  Geneva)  extended  the  fame,  or  at  least 
the  circulation  of  the  work.  In  England  it  was  received  with 
cold  indifference,  little  read,  and  speedily  forgotten  :  a  small 
impression  was  slowly  dispersed  ;  the  bookseller  murmui-ed, 
and  the  author  (had  his  feelings  been  more  exquisite)  might 
have  wept  over  the  blunders  and  baldness  of  the  English 
translation.1  The  publication  of  my  History  fifteen  years 
afterwards  revived  the  memory  of  my  first  performance,  and 
the  Essay  was  eagerly  sought  in  the  shops.  But  I  refused 
the  Permission  which  Becket  solicited  of  reprinting  it :  the 
public  curiosity  was  imperfectly  satisfied  by  a  pirated  copy  of 
the  booksellers  of  Dublin ;  and  Avhen  a  copy  of  the  original 
edition  has  been  discovered  in  a  sale,  the  primitive  value  of 
half-a-crown  has  risen  to  the  fanciful  price  of  a  guinea  or 
thirty  shillings.2 

I  have  expatiated  on  the  petty  circumstances  and  period  of 
my  first  publication,  a  memorable  aera  in  the  life  of  a  student, 
when  he  ventures  to  reveal  the  measure  of  his  mind :  his 
hopes  and  fears  are  multiplied  by  the  idea  of  self-importance, 
and  he  believes  for  a  while  that  the  eyes  of  mankind  are 
fixed  on  his  person  and  performance.  Whatever  may  be  my 
present  reputation,  it  no  longer  rests  on  the  merit  of  this 
first   essay ;   and    at   the    end   of  twenty-eight  years  I  may 

1  [Gibbon  recorded  on  January  n,  1763,  just  before  leaving  England:  "  I 
went  to  Becket,  paid  him  his  bill  (^54),  and  gave  him  back  his  translation.  It 
must  be  printed,  though  very  indifferent.  My  comfort  is  that  my  misfortune  is 
not  an  uncommon  one"  (Misc.   Works,  i. ,  157).] 

2  [I  have  lately  been  offered  a  copy  of  the  original  edition  for  18s.  6d.,  and 
of  the  translation  for  12s.] 


1760-62]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  129 

appreciate  *  my  juvenile  work  with  the  impartiality,  and  almost 
with  the  indifference  of  a  stranger.  In  his  answer  to  Lady 
Hei'vey,  the  Count  de  Caylus  admires,  or  affects  to  admire, 
"  les  livres  sans  nombre  que  Mr.  Gibbon  a  lus  et  tres  bien 
lus".'2  But,  alas!  my  stock  of  erudition  at  that  time  was 
scanty  and  superficial ;  and  if  I  allow  myself  the  liberty  of 
naming  the  Greek  masters,  my  genuine  and  personal  acquaint- 
ance was  confined  to  the  Latin  classics.  The  most  serious 
defect  of  my  Essay  is  a  kind  of  obscurity  and  abruptness 
which  always  fatigues,  and  may  often  elude,  the  attention  of 
the  reader.  Instead  of  a  precise  and  proper  definition  of  the 
title  itself,  the  sense  of  the  word  Litterature  is  loosely  and 
variously  applied :  a  number  of  remarks  and  examples, 
historical,  critical,  philosophical,  are  heaped  on  each  other 
without  method  or  connection ;  and  if  we  except  some  intro- 
ductory pages,  all  the  remaining  chapters  might  indifferently 
be  reversed  or  transposed.  The  obscurity  of  many  passages 
is  often  affected,  brevis  esse  laboro,  obscurus xfio3 ;  the  desire  of 
expressing  perhaps  a  common  idea  with  sententious  and 
oracular  brevity  :  alas !  how  fatal  has  been  the  imitation  of 
Montesquieu  ! 4  But  this  obscurity  sometimes  proceeds  from 
a  mixture  of  light  and  darkness  in  the  author's  mind ;  from  a 
partial  ray  which  strikes  upon  an  angle,  instead  of  spreading 
itself  over  the  surface  of  an  object.  After  this  fair  confession 
I  shall  presume  to  say,  that  the  Essay  does  credit  to  a  young 
writer  of  two  and  twenty  years  of  age,  who  had  read  with 
taste,  who  thinks  with  freedom,  and  who  writes  in  a  foreign 
language  with  spirit  and  elegance.  The  defence  of  the  early 
History  of  Rome 5  and  the  new  Chronology  of  Sir  Isaac 
Newton 6    form    a    specious    argument.       The    patriotic    and 

1  [.Appreciate  is  not  in  Johnson's  Dictionary.}  2[Afisc.   Works,  ii. ,  43.] 

3  [De  Arte  Poetica,  1.  25.  "I  strive  to  be  concise,  I  prove  obscure" 
(Francis).] 

4  [Sainte-Beuve  says  of  the  Essai:  "  Le  francais  est  de  quelqu'un  qui  a 
beaucoup  lu  Montesquieu  et  qui  l'imite ;  c'est  du  francais  correct,  mais 
artificiel"  (Causeries,  viii. ,  446).  For  Dr.  Maty's  criticism  of  the  French,  see 
post,  p.  134.] 

5 [Misc.    Works,  iv.,  40.]  6[fb. ,  iv. ,  49;  ante,  pp.  45,  63.] 

9 


130  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1 760-62 

political  design  of  the  Georgics  is  happily  conceived ;  and 
any  probable  conjecture,  which  tends  to  raise  the  dignity  of 
the  poet  and  the  poem,  deserves  to  be  adopted,  without  a 
rigid  scrutiny.1  Some  dawnings  of  a  philosophic  spirit 
enlighten  the  general  remarks  on  the  study  of  history  and  of 
man.2  I  am  not  displeased  with  the  inquiry  into  the  origin 
and  nature  of  the  gods  of  polytheism,3  which  might  deserve 
the  illustration  of  a  riper  judgment.  Upon  the  whole,  I  may 
apply  to  the  first  labour  of  my  pen  the  speech  of  a  far  superior 
artist,  when  he  surveyed  the  first  productions  of  his  pencil. 
After  viewing  some  portraits  which  he  had  painted  in  his 
youth,  my  friend  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  4  acknowledged  to  me 
that  he  was  rather  humbled  than  flattered  by  the  comparison 
with  his  present  works ;  and  that  after  so  much  time  and 
study,  he  had  conceived  his  improvement  to  be  much  greater 
than  he  found  it  to  have  been. 

At  Lausanne  I  composed  the  first  chapters  of  my  Essay  in 
French,  the  familiar  language  of  my  conversation  and  studies, 
in  which  it  was  easier  for  me  to  write  than  in  my  mother 
tongue.  After  my  return  to  England  I  continued  the  same 
practice,  without  any  affectation,  or  design  of  repudiating  (as 
Dr.  Bentley  would  say)  my  vernacular  idiom. •'     But  I  should 

1  [Gibbon,  after  describing  how  Augustus  distributed  farms  among  his 
soldiers,  continues:  "  Les  hardis  v6t6rans  n'avaient  achete'  leurs  possessions 
que  par  une  guerre  sanglante,  et  leurs  frequens  actes  de  violence  montraient 
assez  qu'ils  se  croyaient  toujours  les  armes  a  la  main.  Qu'y  avait-il  alors  de 
plus  assorti  a  la  douce  politique  d'Auguste,  que  d'employer  les  chants  har- 
monieux  de  son  ami  pour  les  reconcilier  a  leur  nouvel  £tat  ?  "  (Misc.    Works,  iv. , 

P-  35-)] 

2 [In  this  part  of  his  Essai  Gibbon  has  the  following  marginal  headings; 
"  L'Esprit  Philosophique.  Pretensions  a  l'esprit  philosophique.  Ce  qu'il 
n'est  pas.  Ce  qu'il  est.  Le  secours  qu'il  peut  tirer  de  la  litteYature.  L'histoire 
est  la  science  des  causes  et  des  effets"  {ib.,  iv.,  57-63). 

3 [On  p.  70  of  vol.  iv.  he  begins  to  consider"  le  paganisme,  ce  systeme 
riant  mais  absurde".] 

4  ["  Gibbon,  who  was  now  [1779]  sitting  to  Sir  Joshua,  seems  to  have  taken 
the  place  formerly  filled  by  Goldsmith,  of  his  companion  to  places  of  amuse- 
ment, masquerades,  and  ridottos  "  (Leslie  and  Taylor's  Reynolds,  ii.,  273  ).  See 
John.  Misc.,  ii.,  237,  for  an  imaginary  Dialogue  between  Dr.  Johnson  and  Mr. 
Gibbon  drawn  up  by  Reynolds).] 

5  ["  He  is  defended  by  the  like  practice  of  other  writers,  who,  being  Dorians 
born,  repudiated  their  vernacular  idiom  for  that  of  the  Athenians"  (Bentley's 

Works,  ed.  1836,  i. ,  359).     Bentley  was  reproached  by  one  of  his  critics  for  all 


1760-62]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  131 

have  escaped  some  Anti-gallican  clamour,  had  I  been  content 
with  the  more  natural  character  of  an  English  author.1  I 
should  have  been  more  consistent  had  I  rejected  Mallet's 
advice,  of  prefixing  an  English  dedication  to  a  French  book  ; 
a  confusion  of  tongues  that  seemed  to  accuse  the  ignorance 
of  my  patron.  The  use  of  a  foreign  dialect  might  be  excused 
by  the  hope  of  being  employed  as  a  negociator,  by  the  desire 
of  being  generally  understood  on  the  continent ;  but  my  true 
motive  was  doubtless  the  ambition  of  new  and  singular  fame, 
an  Englishman  claiming  a  place  among  the  writers  of  France. 
The  Latin  tongue  had  been  consecrated  by  the  service  of  the 
church  ;  it  was  refined  by  the  imitation  of  the  ancients  ;  and 
in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  the  scholars  of  Europe 
enjoyed  the  advantage,  which  they  have  gradually  resigned, 
of  conversing  and  writing  in  a  common  and  learned  idiom. 
As  that  idiom  was  no  longer  in  any  country  the  vulgar  speech, 
they  all  stood  on  a  level  with  each  other  ;  yet  a  citizen  of 
old  Rome  might  have  smiled  at  the  best  Latinity  of  the 
Germans  and  Britons  ;  and  we  may  learn  from  the  Ciceronianns 
of  Erasmus,  how  difficult  it  was  found  to  steer  a  middle  course 
between  pedantry  and  barbarism.2  The  Romans  themselves 
had  sometimes  attempted  a  more  perilous  task,  of  writing 
in  a  living  language,  and  appealing  to  the  taste  and  judgment 

three  words.  "  The  words  in  my  book  which  he  excepts  against  are  commenti- 
tious,  repudiate,  concede,  aliene,  vernacular,  timid,  negoce,  putid  and  idiom  ; 
every  one  of  which  were  in  print  before  I  used  them  "  (ih.,  preface,  p.  54). 

' '  The  histories  of  all  our  former  wars  are  transmitted  to  us  in  our  vernacular 
idiom,  to  use  the  phrase  of  a  great  modern  critic"  (Addison,  The  Spectator, 
No.  165).] 

1  [Maty  wrote  in  his  Epistle :  "  Avez-vous  pu  croire  qu'on  pardonnerait  a 
un  homme  ne'  pour  assister  aux  assemblies  tumultueuses  du  s^nat,  et  a  la 
destruction  des  renards  de  sa  province,  des  discussions  sur  ce  qu'on  pensa,  il  y 
a  deux  mille  ans,  sur  les  divinit^s  de  la  Grece,  et  sur  les  premiers  siecles  de 
Rome  ?  .  .  .  Vos  notes  sont  savantes,  mais  qui  a  Newmarket  ou  dans  le  cafe 
d' Arthur  peut  les  lire  ?  .  .  .  J'ai  garde'  pour  le  dernier  le  plus  grand  de  vos 
crimes.  Vous  etes  Anglais,  et  vous  choisissez  la  langue  de  vos  ennemis.  Le 
vieux  Caton  fr^mit,  et  dans  son  Club  Antigallican  vous  denonce,  le  punch  a  la 
main,  un  ennemi  de  la  patrie  "  [Misc.    Works,  iv. ,  7-9).] 

2  [Gibbon  sums  up  an  interesting  criticism  on  the  Ciceronianus  by  saying 
that  "  perhaps  the  natural  conclusion  from  these  various  difficulties,  where 
either  freedom  or  correctness  must  be  sacrificed,  was,  that,  instead  of  that 
ungrateful  labour  upon  a  dead  language,  it  would  be  better  to  improve  and 
cultivate  the  living  ones.  But  this  conclusion  was  too  much  for  the  age  of 
Erasmus"  [Misc.    Works,  v.,  262).] 


132  EDWARD  GIBBON  [i  760-62 

of  the  natives.  The  vanity  of  Tully  was  doubly  interested  in 
the  Greek  memoirs  of  his  own  consulship  ;  and  if  he  modestly 
supposes  that  some  Latinisms  might  be  detected  in  his  style, 
he  is  confident  of  his  own  skill  in  the  art  of  Isocrates  and 
Aristotle  ;  and  he  requests  his  friend  Atticus  to  disperse  the 
copies  of  his  work  at  Athens,  and  in  the  other  cities  of  Greece 
(Ad  Atticwm,  i.,  19  ;  ii.,  1).  But  it  must  not  be  forgotten,  that 
from  infancy  to  manhood  Cicero  and  his  contemporaries  had 
read  and  declaimed,  and  composed  with  equal  diligence  in 
both  languages  ;  and  that  he  was  not  allowed  to  frequent  a 
Latin  school  till  he  had  imbibed  the  lessons  of  the  Greek 
grammarians  and  rhetoricians.  In  modern  times,  the  language 
of  France  has  been  diffused  by  the  merit  of  her  writers,  the 
social  manners  of  the  natives,  the  influence  of  the  monarchy, 
and  the  exile  of  the  Protestants.1  Several  foreigners  have 
seized  the  opportunity  of  speaking  to  Europe  in  this  common 
dialect,  and  Germany  may  plead  the  authority  of  Leibnitz 
and  Frederick,  of  the  first  of  her  philosophers,  and  the 
greatest  of  her  kings.2  The  just  pride  and  laudable  prejudice 
of  England  has  restrained  this  communication  of  idioms  ;  and 
of  all  the  nations  on  this  side  of  the  Alps,  my  countrymen  are 
the  least  practised,  and  least  perfect  in  the  exercise  of  the 
French  tongue.     By  Sir  William  Temple  3  and  Lord  Chester- 

1  [According  to  Voltaire  (CE uvres,  xviii. ,  320),  in  the  three  years  that  followed 
the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  (1685-88)  nearly  fifty  thousand  Protestant 
families  left  France.] 

2  [Voltaire  wrote  in  1740:  "La  langue  francaise  est  devenue  presque  la 
langue  universelle  "  (id.,  xlvii. ,  479).  In  his  Slide  de  Louis  XIV.  published 
in  1752,  he  says  of  Leibnitz  :  "  C'etait  peut-etre  le  savant  le  plus  universel  de 
l'Europe.  .  .  .  Jamais  la  correspondance  entre  les  philosophes  ne  fut  plus  uni- 
verselle ;  Leibnitz  servait  a  l'animer.  On  a  vu  une  republique  litteYaire  6tablie 
insensiblement  dans  l'Europe  malgre'  les  guerres,  et  malgr£  les  religions  dif- 
ferentes.  .  .  .  Les  ventables  savants  dans  chaque  genre  ont  resserre'  les  liens 
de  cette  grande  soci6t6  des  esprits  rdpandue  partout,  et  partout  ind^pendante. 
Cette  correspondance  dure  encore,  elle  est  une  des  consolations  des  maux  que 
l'ambition  et  la  politique  repandent  sur  la  terre  "  (id. ,  xviii.,  278).  For  Gibbon's 
estimate  of  Leibnitz  see  Misc.  Works,  iii. ,  361,  386,  568.  "  He  may  be  com- 
pared," Gibbon  writes,  "  to  those  heroes  whose  empire  has  been  lost  in  the 
ambition  of  universal  conquest  "  (id.,  p.  563).  In  The  Decline  (vi.,  444)  he  calls 
him  "  the  great  Leibnitz,  a  master  of  the  history  of  the  Middle  Ages  ".] 

3  [Swift,  in  editing  Temple's  Letters,  writes:  "I  have  made  some  literal 
amendments,  especially  in  the  Latin,  French  and  Spanish  "  (Temple's  Works, 
ed.  1757,  i. ,  226).  Temple  went  to  France  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  and  stayed 
there  two  years  (it. ,  preface,  p.  9).] 


1760-62]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  133 

field  it  was  only  used  on  occasions  of  civility  and  business,1 
and  their  printed  letters  will  not  be  quoted  as  models  of 
composition.  Lord  Bolingbroke  may  have  published  in  French 
a  sketch  of  his  Reflections  on  Exile  '-  ;  but  his  reputation  now 
reposes  on  the  address  of  Voltaire,  "  Docte  sermones  utriusque 
linguae"  ;3  and  by  his  English  dedication  to  Queen  Caroline/ 
and  his  Essay  on  Epic  Poetry,5  it  should  seem  that  Voltaire 
himself  wished  to  deserve  a  return  of  the  same  compliment. 
The  exception  of  Count  Hamilton  cannot  fairly  be  urged  ; 
though  an  Irishman  by  birth,  he  was  educated  in  France  from 
his  childhood.  Yet  I  am  surprised  that  a  long  residence  in 
England,  and  the  habits  of  domestic  conversation,  did  not 
affect  the  ease  and  purity  of  his  inimitable  style ;  and  I  regret 
the  omission  of  his  English  verses,  which  might  have  afforded 
an  amusing  object  of  comparison.6  I  might  therefore  assume 
the  primus  ego  in  pairiam,  etc.  ; "  but  with  what  success  I  have 

1  [Chesterfield  sometimes  wrote  to  his  son  in  French  as  a  mode  of  teaching 
him  the  language.] 

2  [The  Reflections  upon  Exile,  written  in  France  in  1716,  are  included  in 
their  English  form  in  Bolingbroke's  Works,  ed.  1809,  i. ,  137.  I  find  no  mention 
of  a  French  version  of  this  essay.] 

3  [In  the  Discours  sur  la  Tragidie  a  Mylord  Bolingbroke,  prefixed  to  Brutus 
(1730),  Voltaire  writes:  "  Souffrez  done  que  je  vous  pr^sente  Brutus,  quoique 
ecrit  dans  une  autre  langue,  docte  sermonis  [sic]  utriusque  lingua,  a  vous  qui  me 
donneriez  des  lecons  de  francais  aussi-bien  que  d'anglais,  a  vous  qui  m'appren- 
driez  du  moins  a  rendre  a  ma  langue  cette  force  et  cette  6nergie  qu'inspire  la 
noble  liberty  de  penser  ;  car  les  sentimens  vigoureux  de  l'ame  passent  toujours 
dans  le  langage ;  et  qui  pense  fortement,  parle  de  raeme  "  (CEuvres,  i. ,  309). 

Voltaire  applied  to  Bolingbroke  Horace's  address  to  Maecenas,  translated 
by  Francis  : — 

"  The  Greek  and  Roman  languages  are  thine"  [Odes,  iii.,  8,  5).] 
1  [It  was  prefixed  to  the  fourth  edition  of  La  Henriade,  published  in  London 
in  1728.     See  CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  viii.,  14,  where  1726  is  given  as  the  date  of 
publication,  a  year  before  Caroline  became  queen.] 

5  \Essai  sur  la  Poe'sie  Epique  {CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  viii.,  346).  In  a  note  it 
is  stated  :  "  Cet  Essai  avait  d'abord  6te  compost  en  anglais  par  l'auteur  lorsqu'il 
6tait  a  Londres,  en  1726  ;  on  le  traduisit  en  francais  a  Paris  :  .  .  .  mais,  depuis, 
l'auteur  refondit  cet  ouvrage  en  l'ecrivant  en  francais".     See  also  id.,  p.  424.] 

B  [Ante,  p.  n,  n.  1.  "  Ses  Me  moires  du  comte  de  Grammout,  son  beau-frere, 
sont  de  tous  les  livres  celui  oil  le  fonds  le  plus  mince  est  pare'  du  style  le  plus 
gai,  le  plus  vif  et  le  plus  agr^able.  C'est  le  modele  d'une  conversation  enjouee, 
plus  que  le  modele  d'un  livre  "  (id.,  xvii. ,  97). 

In  the  introduction  to  Sir  Walter  Scott's  edition  of  the  English  version  the 
English  verses  are  given.] 

7  ["  Primus  ego  in  patriam  mecum  (modo  vita  supersit) 
Aonio  rediens  deducam  vertice  Musas." 

(Virgil,  Georgica,  iii.,  10.) 
"I,  first  of  Romans,  shall  in  triumph  come 
From  conquered  Greece,  and  bring  her  trophies  home." 

(Dryden.)] 


134  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1760-62 

explored  this  untrodden  path  must  be  left  to  the  decision  of 
my  French  readers.  Dr.  Maty,  who  might  himself  be  ques- 
tioned as  a  foreigner,  has  secured  his  retreat  at  my  expense. 
"  Je  ne  crois  pas  que  vous  vous  piquiez  d'etre  moins  facile  a 
reconnaitre  pour  un  Anglois  que  Lucullus  pour  un  Romain." 
My  friends  at  Paris  have  been  more  indulgent,  they  received 
me  as  a  countryman,  or  at  least  as  a  provincial  ;  but  they  were 
friends  and  Parisians.1  The  defects  which  Maty  insinuates, 
"  Ces  traits  saillants,  ces  figures  hardies,  ce  sacrifice  de  la  regie 
au  sentiment,  et  de  la  cadence  a  la  force,"  -  are  the  faults 
of  the  youth,  rather  than  of  the  stranger  :  and  after  the  long 
and  laborious  exercise  of  my  own  language,  I  am  conscious 
that  my  French  style  has  been   ripened  and  improved. 

I  have  already  hinted,  that  the  publication  of  my  essay  was 
delayed  till  I  had  embraced  the  military  profession.  I  shall 
now  amuse  myself  with  the  recollection  of  an  active  scene, 
which  bears  no  affinity  to  any  other  period  of  my  studious  and 
social  life. 

In  the  outset  of  a  glorious  war,  the  English  people  had 
been  defended  by  the  aid  of  German  mercenaries.3    A  national 

1  The  copious  extracts  which  were  given  in  the  Journal  Etranger  by  Mr. 
Suard,  a  judicious  critic,  must  satisfy  both  the  author  and  the  public.  I  may 
here  observe,  that  I  have  never  seen  in  any  literary  review  a  tolerable  account 
of  my  History.  The  manufacture  of  journals,  at  least  on  the  continent,  is 
miserably  debased. — Gibbon. 

[Gibbon  wanted  Suard  to  translate  the  Decline  {Misc.  Works,  ii.,  176).  He 
had  translated  Robertson's  Charles  V.  (Stewart's  Roberlson,  p.  218),  and 
Hume's  Concise  Account  of  the  Dispute  between  Mr.  Hume  and  Mr.  Rousseau 
(Hume's  Letters  to  Strahan,  pp.  92-93). 

"  The  first  time  Suard  saw  Burke,  who  was  at  Reynolds's,  Johnson  touched 
him  on  the  shoulder  and  said,  '  Le  grand  Burke '  "  (Boszvel  liana,  p.  299).  When 
in  1774  Suard  was  admitted  into  the  French  Academy,  Voltaire  wrote  to  him  : 
"  Je  vais  relire  votre  Discours  pour  la  quatrieme  fois  "  (CEuvres  de  Voltaire, 
lvi.,  387). 

"  Sallo  (Denis  de),  ne  en  1626  .  .  .  inventeur  des  journaux.  Bayle  perfec- 
tionna  ce  genre,  deshonore  ensuite  par  quelques  journaux  que  publierent  k  l'envi 
des  libraires  avides,  et  que  des  £crivains  obscurs  remplirent  d'extraits  infideles, 
d'inepties  et  de  mensonges.  Enfin  on  est  parvenu  jusqu'a  faire  un  trafic  public 
d'eloges  et  de  censures,  surtout  dans  des  feuilles  periodiques  ;  et  la  literature  a 
eprouve"  le  plus  grand  avilissement  par  ces  infames  maneges"  (ii.,  xvii.,  161).] 

2  [Misc.   Works,  iv.,  13.     See  ante,  p.  129,  n.] 

"[On  March  23,  1756,  the  King  informed  Parliament,  that,  as  France 
threatened  an  invasion,  he  had  sent  for  a  body  of  Hessian  troops.  Both 
Houses  addressed  him  to  send  in  addition  for  twelve  battalions  of  his  Electoral 
troops  with  artillery  (Pari.  Hist.,  xv.,  700-3).     "As  the  fears  of  an  invasion 


1760-62]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  135 

militia  has  been  the  cry  of  every  patriot  since  the  Revolution  Y  ; 
and  this  measure,  both  in  parliament  and  in  the  field,  was 
supported  by  the  country  gentlemen  or  Tories,  who  insensibly 
transferred  their  loyalty  to  the  house  of  Hanover  :  in  the 
language  of  Mr.  Burke,  they  have  changed  the  idol,  but  they 
have  preserved  the  idolatry.'2  In  the  act  of  offering  our 
names  and  receiving  our  commissions,  as  major  and  captain  3 
in  the  Hampshire  regiment  (June  12,  1759),  we  had  not 
supposed  that  we  should  be  dragged  away,  my  father  from 
his  farm,  myself  from  my  books,  and  condemned,  during  two 
years  and  a  half  (May  10,  1760  to  December  23,  1762), 
to  a  wandering  life  of  military  servitude.  But  a  weekly  or 
monthly  exercise  of  thirty  thousand  provincials  would  have  left 
them  useless  and  ridiculous ;  and  after  the  pretence  of  an  in- 
vasion had  vanished,  the  popularity  of  Mr.  Pitt  gave  a  sanction 
to  the  illegal  step  of  keeping  them  till  the  end  of  the  war  under 
arms,  in  constant  pay  and  duty,  and  at  a  distance  from  their 
respective  homes.4    When  the  King's  order  for  our  embodying 

subsided  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  their  antipathy  to  these  foreign  auxiliaries 
emerged.  The  ministry  was  execrated  for  having  reduced  the  nation  to  such 
a  low  circumstance  of  disgrace  as  that  they  should  owe  their  security  to  German 
mercenaries.  Nothing  would  have  restrained  them  from  violent  acts  of  outrage 
but  the  most  orderly,  modest  and  inoffensive  behaviour  by  which  both  the 
Hanoverians  and  Hessians  were  distinguished  "  (Smollett's  England,  ed.  1800, 

iii-.  495)-] 

1  [See  Appendix  23  and  ante,  p.  119,  «.] 

-[Gibbon  says  that  he  had  heard  Burke  exclaim  this  in  the  House  of 
Commons  {Auto.,  p.  182).] 

:![Men  of  property  only  were  qualified  to  act  as  officers.  "  The  qualification 
of  a  major  shall  be  ^300,  and  of  a  captain  ^200  per  annum,  half  of  which 
shall  be  within  the  county  for  which  they  serve"  (Gent.  Mag.,  1762,  p.  226).] 

4["  They  are  not  compellable  to  march  out  of  their  counties,  unless  in  case 
of  invasion  or  actual  rebellion"  (,Blackstone's  Commentaries,  ed.  1775,  '•>  412)- 
On  May  30,  1759,  Pitt  communicated  a  message  to  the  Commons  from  the 
King,  "in  which,  in  pursuance  of  the  late  Act,  His  Majesty  acquainted  the 
House  of  the  imminent  danger  of  an  invasion  being  attempted  ;  to  the  end  that 
His  Majesty  may  cause  the  militia  to  march  as  occasion  shall  require".  The 
Commons  replied  :  "That  an  humble  Address  be  presented  to  His  Majesty, 
that  he  will  be  graciously  pleased  to  give  directions  to  his  Lieutenants  of  the 
several  counties  to  use  their  utmost  diligence  to  carry  into  execution  the  several 
Acts  of  Parliament  made  for  the  better  ordering  the  militia  forces  "  [Pari.  Hist. , 
xv.,  940).  "The  threats  of  an  invasion,"  wrote  Burke,  "in  a  great  measure 
executed  the  Militia  Act,  which  hardly  anything  else  could  have  put  in  execu- 
tion. .  .  .  Such  is  the  effect  when  power  and  patriotism  unite  ;  when  liberty  and 
order  kiss ;  and  when  a  nation  sits  with  a  happy  security  under  the  shade  of 


136  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1760-62 

came  down,  it  was  too  late  to  retreat,  and  too  soon  to  repent. 
The  south  battalion  of  the  Hampshire  militia  was  a  small 
independent  corps  of  four  hundred  and  seventy-six,  officers  and 
men,  commanded  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sir  Thomas  Worsley,1 
who,  after  a  prolix  and  passionate  contest,  delivered  us  from 
the  tyranny  of  the  Lord  Lieutenant,  the  Duke  of  Bolton.2 
My  proper  station,  as  first  captain,  was  at  the  head  of  my  own, 
and  afterwards  of  the  grenadier,  company 3 ;  but  in  the 
absence,  or  even  in  the  presence,  of  the  two  field  officers,  I 
was  entrusted  by  my  friend  and  my  father  with  the  effective 
labour  of  dictating  the  orders,  and  exercising  the  battalion. 
With  the  help  of  an  original  journal,  I  could  write  the  history 
of  my  bloodless  and  inglorious  campaigns  ;  but  as  these  events 
have  lost  much  of  their  importance  in  my  own  eyes,  they  shall 
be  dispatched  in  a  few  words.  From  Winchester,  the  first 
place  of  assembly  (June  4,  1760),  we  were  removed,  at  our 
own  request,  for  the  benefit  of  a  foreign  education.  By  the 
arbitrary,  and  often  capricious,  orders  of  the  War-office,  the 
battalion  successively  marched  to  the  pleasant  and  hospitable 
Blandford  (June   17);    to   Hilsea  barracks,  a  seat  of  disease 

abilities  which   she  has   tried,  and  virtues   in   which   she   dares   to   confide" 
{Annual  Register,  1759,  i. ,  7). 

The  resolution  of  the  House,  whatever  effect  it  had  at  the  time — and  it  seems 
to  be  drawn  up  ambiguously — must  have  lost  its  power  when,  less  than  six 
months  later,  by  Hawke's  victory  over  the  French  fleet  (Nov.  20,  1759)  "  the 
long  threatened  invasion  was  dissipated"  (id.,  i. ,  53).] 

1  [Gibbon  has  the  following  entries  in  his  journal :  "  Aug.  28,  1762.  To-day 
Sir  Thomas  came  to  us  to  dinner.  The  Spa  has  done  him  a  great  deal  of  good, 
for  he  looks  another  man.  Pleased  to  see  him,  we  kept  bumperizing  till  after 
roll-calling ;  Sir  Thomas  assuring  us,  every  fresh  bottle,  how  infinitely  soberer 
he  was  grown.  29th.  I  felt  the  usual  consequence  of  Sir  Thomas's  company, 
and  lost  a  morning  because  I  lost  the  day  before"  (Post,  Appendix  23.  See 
also  Auto.,  p.  189). 

A  militiaman  who  appeared  drunk  "  at  the  time  of  exercise  "  had  "  to  forfeit 
ten  shillings,  or  sit  an  hour  in  the  stocks"  (Gent.  Mag.,  1757,  p.  303).] 

2  [For  his  "tyranny"  see  Auto.,  p.  183.  "July  12,  1765.  The  Duke  of 
Bolton,  the  other  morning — nobody  knows  why  or  wherefore,  except  that  there 
is  a  good  deal  of  madness  in  the  blood,  sat  himself  down  upon  the  floor  in  his 
dressing-room,  and  shot  himself  through  the  head"  (Walpole's  Letters,  iv. , 
385).     See  also  ante,  p.  119,  «.] 

:;[See  Read's  Hist.  Studies,  ii.,  373,  for  "An  Account  of  a  Week's  pay  Due 
to  Captain  Gibbon's  Company  of  Militia  ".  The  pay  of  a  private  was  3s.  5d.  a 
week  ;  of  a  sergeant  6s.  iod.] 


1760-62]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  137 

and  discord1  (September  1);  to  Cranbrook  in  the  weald  of 
Kent  (December  11);  to  the  sea-coast  of  Dover  (December 
27) ;  to  Winchester  camp  (June  25,  1761) ;  to  the  populous 
and  disorderly  town  of  the  Devizes  (October  23) ;  to 
Salisbury  (February  28,  1762);  to  our  beloved  Blandford 
a  second  time  (March  9) ;  and  finally,  to  the  fashionable  re- 
sort of  Southampton  (June  2)  ;  where  the  colours  were  fixed 
till  our  final  dissolution  (December  23).  On  the  beach  at 
Dover  we  had  exercised  in  sight  of  the  Gallic  shores.  But 
the  most  splendid  and  useful  scene  of  our  life  was  a  four 
months'  encampment  on  Winchester  Down,  under  the 
command  of  the  Earl  of  Effingham.-'  Our  army  consisted  of 
the  thirty-fourth  regiment  of  foot  and  six  militia  corps.  The 
consciousness  of  our  defects  was  stimulated  by  friendly 
emulation.  We  improved  our  time  and  opportunities  in 
morning  and  evening  field-days ;  and  in  the  general  reviews 
the  South  Hampshire  were  rather  a  credit  than  a  disgrace  to 
the  line.  In  our  subsequent  quarters  of  the  Devizes  and 
Blandford,  we  advanced  with  a  quick  step  in  our  military 
studies  ;  the  ballot  of  the  ensuing  summer  renewed  our  vigour 
and  youth ;  and  had  the  militia  subsisted  another  year,  we 
might  have  contested  the  prize  with  the  most  perfect  of  our 
brethren. 


1  [These  barracks  were  "within  the  Portsmouth  lines,  a  square  of  low,  ill- 
built  huts,  where,"  says  Gibbon,  "  we  lost  many  men  by  fevers  and  the  small- 
pox "  (Auto. ,  p.  185).  Dr.  Brocklesby,  the  physician  of  Johnson  and  Burke 
(Boswell's  Johnson,  iv. ,  173,  338,  399),  described  the  barracks  in  1763: 
"  The  ceilings  are  low,  and  ventilators  are  wanting.  They  are  worse  than  any 
ship  kept  tolerably  clean,  as  the  country  adjacent  is  overflowed  twice  a  day. 
The  small-pox  apartments  are  rooms  little  more  than  six  feet  high,  with 
windows  that  cannot  be  opened  ;  and  in  these  no  less  than  sixteen  loathsome 
bodies  were  often  crowded.  These  barracks  swept  off  the  men  like  a  perpetual 
pestilence.  The  windows  are  not  suffered  to  be  open,  with  a  view  to  keep  the 
men  warm,  and  yet  save  the  expense  of  fire."  "The  straw,"  he  adds,  "on 
which  men  lie  in  their  tents  should  be  aired,  and  turned  three  times  a  week."] 

2  [Horace  Walpole,  writing  just  after  the  coronation  of  George  III.,  said  that 
the  King  complained  that  "the  Heralds  were  ignorant  of  their  office.  Lord 
Effingham,  the  Earl  Marshal,  told  him  he  had  taken  such  care  of  registering 
directions,  that  next  coronation  would  be  conducted  with  the  greatest  order 
imaginable.  The  King  was  so  diverted  with  {.bis  flattering  speech  that  he  made 
the  Earl  repeat  it  several  times"  (Walpole's  Letters,  hi.,  445).  For  a  review 
by  his  Lordship  see  post,  Appendix  24;  for  his  incapacity — "our  drowsy 
general"  Gibbon  called  him — see  Auto.,  p.   186.] 


138  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1760-62 

The  loss  of  so  many  busy  and  idle  hours  was  not  compen- 
sated by  any  elegant  pleasure  ;  and  my  temper  was  insensibly 
soured  by  the  society  of  our  rustic  officers.1  In  every  state 
there  exists,  however,  a  balance  of  good  and  evil.  The  habits 
of  a  sedentary  life  were  usefully  broken  by  the  duties  of  an 
active  profession :  in  the  healthful  exercise  of  the  field  I 
hunted  with  a  battalion,  instead  of  a  pack ;  and  at  that  time 
I  was  ready,  at  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night,  to  fly  from 
quarters  to  London,  from  London  to  quarters,  on  the  slightest 
call  of  private  or  regimental  business.  But  my  principal 
obligation  to  the  militia  was  the  making  me  an  Englishman, 
and  a  soldier.  After  my  foreign  education,  with  my  reserved 
temper,  I  should  long  have  continued  a  stranger  in  my  native 
country,  had  I  not  been  shaken  in  this  various  scene  of  new 
faces  and  new  friends  :  had  not  experience  forced  me  to  feel 
the  characters  of  our  leading  men,  the  state  of  parties,  the 
forms  of  office,  and  the  operation  of  our  civil  and  military 
system.  In  this  peaceful  service  I  imbibed  the  rudiments  of 
the  language,  and  science  of  tactics,  which  opened  a  new 
field  of  study  and  observation.  I  diligently  read,  and  medi- 
tated the  Memoires Militaires  of  Quintus  Icilius  (Mr.  Guichardt), 
the  only  writer  who  has  united  the  merits  of  a  professor  and 
a  veteran.  The  discipline  and  evolutions  of  a  modern  battalion 
gave  me  a  clearer  notion  of  the  phalanx  and  the  legion ;  and 
the  captain  of  the  Hampshire  grenadiers  (the  reader  may 
smile)  has  not  been  useless  to  the  historian  of  the  Roman 
empire.2 

l[Post,  p.  168;  and  Auto.,  p.  189.] 

-[Gibbon,  recording  in  his  journal  his  study  of  these  Mimoires,  continues  : 
"  Indeed,  my  own  military  knowledge  was  of  some  service  to  me,  as  I  am  well 
acquainted  with  the  modern  discipline  and  exercise  of  a  battalion.  So  that 
though  much  inferior  to  M.  Folard  and  M.  Guichardt,  who  had  seen  service,  I 
am  a  much  better  judge  than  Salmasius,  Casaubon,  or  Lipsius,  mere  scholars 
who  perhaps  had  never  seen  a  battalion  under  arms  "  {Misc.  Works,  v. ,  222). 
"  Guichardt's  Analysis  of  the  two  Campaigns  in  Spain  and  Africa  is  the 
noblest  monument  that  has  ever  been  raised  to  the  fame  of  Caesar"  (The 
Decline,  ii. ,  524).     "Alas  !  Quintus  Icilius  is  no  more"  (in.,  vi. ,  65). 

Carlyle  tells  how  Captain  Guichard  (not  Guichardt)  got  his  names  Quintus 
Icilius  and  his  promotion  given  him  by  Frederick  the  Great.  "  One  night  the 
topic  happened  to  be  Pharsalia,  and  the  excellent  conduct  of  a  certain  centurion 
of  the  Tenth    Legion.  .  .  .   '  A    dexterous    man,    that    Quintus    Icilius    the 


1760-62]       MEMOIKS  OF  MY  LIFE  L39 

A  youth  of  any  spirit  is  fired  even  by  the  play  of  arms,  and 
in  the  first  sallies  of  my  enthusiasm  I  had  seriously  attempted 
to  embrace  the  regular  profession  of  a  soldier.1  But  this 
military  fever  was  cooled  by  the  enjoyment  of  our  mimic 
Bellona,  who  soon  unveiled  to  my  eyes  her  naked  deformity. 
How  often  did  I  sigh  for  my  proper  station  in  society  and 
letters.  How  often  (a  proud  comparison)  did  I  repeat  the 
complaint  of  Cicero  in  the  command  of  a  provincial  army  : 
"  Clitellae  bovi  sunt  impositae.  Est  incredibile  quam  me 
negotii  ta?deat.  Non  habet  satis  magnum  campum  ille  tibi 
non  ignotus  cursus  animi ;  et  industrial  meae  prseclara  opera 
cessat.  Lucem,  libros,  urbem,  doraura,  vos  desidero.  Sed 
feram,  ut  potero ;  sit  modo  annuum.  Si  prorogatur,  actum 
est.'2"  From  a  service  without  danger  I  might  indeed  have 
retired  without  disgrace ;  but  as  often  as  I  hinted  a  wish  of 
resigning,  my  fetters  were  riveted  by  the  friendly  intreaties  of 
the  colonel,  the  parental  authority  of  the  major,  and  my  own 
regard  for  the  honour  and  welfare  of  the  battalion.  When  J 
felt  that  my  personal  escape  was  impracticable,  I  bowed  my 
neck  to  the  yoke  :  my  servitude  was  protracted  far  beyond  the 

Centurion  ! '  observed  Frederick.  '  Ah,  yes  ;  but  excuse  me,  your  Majesty,  his 
name  was  Quintus  Cascilius,'  said  Guichard.  '  No,  it  was  Icilius,'  said  the 
King,  positive  to  his  opinion  on  that  small  point.  .  .  .  Next  day,  Guichard 
came  with  the  book"  (what  "Book"  nobody  would  ever  yet  tell  me),  "and 
putting  his  finger  on  the  passage,  '  See,  your  Majesty  :  Quintus  Caecilius ! ' 
extinguished  his  royal  opponent.  '  Hm,'  answered  Frederick  :  '  so? — Well,  you 
shall  be  Quintus  Icilius,  at  any  rate ! '  And  straightway  had  him  entered  in 
the  Army  Books  as  'Major  Quintus  Icilius'"  (Frederick  the  Great,  10  vol., 
ed.  n.d. ,  viii. ,  114).  Carlyle  describes  "  his  new  book  on  the  Art  Military  of 
the  Ancients"  as  "a  solid  account  of  that  matter,  by  the  first  man  who  ever 
understood  both  war  and  Greek"  (id.,  p.  2).] 

l\_Post,  end  of  Appendix  23.  Gibbon's  service  in  the  militia  seems  to  have 
left  a  stain  on  his  character,  when  we  find  him  writing  of  soldiers  being  "de- 
graded by  the  industry  of  mechanic  trades"  (  The  Decline,  ii. ,  177).] 

"[Epistolce  ad  Atticum,  v.,  15.  Gibbon  italicised  "  libros,"  as  an  indication 
that  he  had  changed  the  word.  In  the  original  it  is  "  forum  ".  He  has  changed 
moreover  the  order  of  the  sentence.  The  first  four  words  come  later  on  in  the 
letter  than  the  rest  of  the  quotation.  The  following  is  W.  Heberden's  transla- 
tion of  the  passage  as  Cicero  wrote  it :  "  It  is  not  to  be  believed  how  sick  I  am 
of  this  business.  The  activity  of  my  mind,  with  which  you  are  so  well  acquainted 
has  not  a  sufficient  field  to  exert  itself ;  and  the  notable  effect  of  my  industry  is 
lost.  ...  I  want  the  splendour,  the  forum,  the  city,  my  own  home,  and  you. 
But  I  will  bear  it  as  I  can,  provided  it  be  but  for  one  year.  .  .  .  The  paniers, 
as  they  say,  have  been  put  on  the  wrong  beast "  (Cicero's  Letters,  1825,  i.,  289).] 


140  EDWARD  GIBBON  [i 760-68 

annual  patience  of  Cicero ;  and  it  was  not  till  after  the  pre- 
liminaries of  peace1  that  I  received  my  discharge,  from  the 
act  of  government  which  disembodied  the  militia.2 

When  I  complain  of  the  loss  of  time,  justice  to  myself  and 
to  the  militia  must  throw  the  greatest  part  of  that  reproach  on 
the  first  seven  or  eight  months,  while  I  was  obliged  to  learn 
as  well  as  to  teach.  The  dissipation  of  Blandford,  and  the 
disputes  of  Portsmouth,  consumed  the  hours  which  were  not 
employed  in  the  field  ;  and  amid  the  perpetual  hurry  of  an 
inn,  a  barrack,  or  a  guard-room,  all  literary  ideas  were  banished 
from  my  mind.  After  this  long  fast,  the  longest  which  I  have 
ever  known,  I  once  more  tasted  at  Dover  the  pleasures  of 
reading  and  thinking  ;  and  the  hungry  appetite  with  which  I 
opened  a  volume  of  Tully's  philosophical  works  is  still  present 
to  my  memory.3  The  last  review  of  my  Essay  before  its  pub- 
lication, had  prompted  me  to  investigate  the  nature  of  the  gods  ; 
my  inquiries  led  me  to  the  Histoire  Critique  du  Manicheisme 
of  Beausobre,  who  discusses  many  deep  questions  of  Pagan  and 
Christian  theology  4 :  and  from  this  rich  treasury  of  facts  and 
opinions,  I  deduced  my  own  consequences,  beyond  the  holy 
circle  of  the  author.  After  this  recovery  I  never  relapsed 
into  indolence  ;  and  my  example  might  prove,  that  in  the  life 
most  averse  to  study,  some  hours  may  be  stolen,  some  minutes 
may  be  snatched.  Amidst  the  tumult  of  Winchester  camp  I 
sometimes  thought  and  read  in  my  tent ;  in  the  more  settled 

1  [The  preliminaries  were  signed  on  Nov.  3,  1762  {Annual  Register,  lite,  i., 
54)-] 

2  [See  Appendix  24  for  Gibbon's  journal.] 

3["  I  lost  some  time,"  he  wrote,  "  before  I  could  recover  my  habit  of  appli- 
cation "  {post,  Appendix  23,  under  date  of  Jan.    11,   1761).] 

4 ["The  learned  historian  [Beausobre]  spins  with  incomparable  art  the 
systematic  thread  of  opinion,  and  transforms  himself  by  turns  into  the  person 
of  a  saint,  a  sage,  or  an  heretic.  Yet  his  refinement  is  sometimes  excessive  ;  he 
betrays  an  amiable  partiality  in  favour  of  the  weaker  side,  and,  while  he  guards 
against  calumny,  he  does  not  allow  sufficient  scope  for  superstition  and 
fanaticism  ' '  (  The  Decline,  v. ,  97). 

On  his  death  in  1738,  Frederick  the  Great  wrote  to  Voltaire  :  "  Nous 
venons  de  perdre  ici  un  des  plus  grands  hommes  d'Allemagne.  C'est  le 
fameux  M.  de  Beausobre  .  .  .  ennemi  implacable  des  jesuites,  la  meilleure 
plume  de  Berlin  .  .  .  d'ailleurs  sentant  quelque  faible  pour  la  superstition  " 
{CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  lix. ,  256).] 


1760-62]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  141 

quarters  of  the  Devizes,  Blandford,  and  Southampton,  I  always 
secured  a  separate  lodging,  and  the  necessary  books  ;  and  in 
the  summer  of  1762,  while  the  new  militia  was  raising,1  I 
enjoyed  at  Buriton  two  or  three  months  of  literary  repose. 
In  forming  a  new  plan  of  study,  I  hesitated  between  the 
mathematics  and  the  Greek  language  ;  both  of  which  I  had 
neglected  since  my  return  from  Lausanne.  I  consulted  a 
learned  and  friendly  mathematician,  Mr.  George  Scott,  a  pupil 
of  de  Moivre  '2  ;  and  his  map  of  a  country  which  I  have  never 
explored,  may  perhaps  be  more  serviceable  to  others.3  As 
soon  as  I  had  given  the  preference  to  Greek,  the  example  of 
Scaliger  and  my  own  reason  determined  me  on  the  choice  of 
Homer,  the  father  of  poetry,  and  the  Bible  of  the  ancients : 
but  Scaliger  ran  through  the  Iliad  in  one  and  twenty  days  ;  4 
and  I  was  not  dissatisfied  with  my  own  diligence  for  perform- 
ing the  same  labour  in  an  equal  number  of  weeks.  After  the 
first  difficulties  were  surmounted,  the  language  of  nature  and 
harmony 5  soon  became  easy  and  familiar,  and  each  day  I 
sailed  upon  the  ocean  with  a  brisker  gale  and  a  more  steady 
course. 


![The  militia  served  for  three  years  [Gent.  Mag.,  1757,  p.  302).  They  had 
been  raised  in  the  summer  of  1759  [ante,  p.  135).] 

2  ["  De  Moivre,  on  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  settled  in  England. 
He  revolutionised  higher  trigonometry  by  the  discovery  of  the  theorem  known 
by  his  name.  .  .  .  His  work  on  the  theory  of  probability  surpasses  anything 
done  by  any  other  mathematician  except  Laplace"  (Cajori's  Hist,  of  Math.., 
1894,  p.  245).] 

3  [See  Misc.  Works,  ii. ,  44.  Scott  was  a  Commissioner  of  Excise.  He  had 
been  sub-preceptor  to  the  Prince  of  Wales  (George  III.),  on  Bolingbroke's 
recommendation.  For  his  clapping  Johnson  on  the  back  see  Boswell's  Johnson, 
iii.,  117,  and  John.  Misc.,  i. ,  180).] 

4[Pattison  (Essays,  i.,  137)  describes  how  Joseph  Scaliger,  at  the  age  of 
eighteen,  began  the  study  of  Greek  by  enrolling  himself  in  the  class  of  the  most 
renowned  Greek  scholar  in  Europe.  "  A  trial  of  two  months  opened  his  eyes, 
and  he  understood  that  to  begin  one  must  begin  at  the  beginning.  He  resolved 
to  shut  himself  up  in  his  chamber,  and  become  his  own  teacher.  With  the  aid 
of  a  Latin  translation  he  went  through  Homer  in  one  and  twenty  days." 
Pattison  adds  (p.  198)  that  Scaliger  does  not  say  whether  by  Homer  he  means 
both  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey.  For  Gibbon's  reasons  for  beginning  with  Homer 
see  Misc.    Works,  v.,  243.] 

5[In  The  Decline,  vii. ,  114,  he  describes  Greek  as  "  a  musical  and  prolific 
language,  that  gives  a  soul  to  the  objects  of  sense,  and  a  body  to  the  abstrac- 
tions of  philosophy  ".] 


142  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1760-62 

'Ee  5'  kve/Lios  wprjartv  fxicrov  Icrriov,  a/xcpl  8e  Kvfia 
2Tei'p?7  tropcpvpeou  fieyaX.'  faxe,  rrjbs  iovcrris ' 
'H  5    eOeev  Kara,  Kvfxa  §ia.Trpi]<T<rov<ra.  KeKevda.1 

In  the  study  of  a  poet  who  has  since  become  the  most  in- 
timate of  my  friends,  I  successively  applied  many  passages 
and  fragments  of  Greek  writers  ;  and  among  these  I  shall 
notice  a  life  of  Homer,  in  the  Opuscula  Mythologica  of  Gale,2 
several  books  of  the  geography  of  Strabo,3  and  the  entire 
treatise  of  Longinus,  which,  from  the  title  and  the  style,  is 
equally  worthy  of  the  epithet  of  sublime.*  My  grammatical 
skill  was  improved,  my  vocabulary  was  enlarged  ;  and  in  the 
militia  I  acquired  a  just  and  indelible  knowledge  of  the  first 
of  languages.  On  every  march,  in  every  journey,  Horace  was 
always  in  my  pocket,  and  often  in  my  hand  :  but  I  should  not 
mention  his  two  critical  epistles,  the  amusement  of  a  morning, 
had  they  not  been  accompanied  by  the  elaborate  commentary 
of  Dr.  Hurd,  now  Bishop  of  Worcester.5     On  the  interesting 

1  [Iliad,  u,  481.] 

"  Fair  wind,  and  blowing  fresh, 

Apollo  sent  them  ;  quick  they  rear'd  the  mast, 
Then  spread  th'  unsullied  canvas  to  the  gale. 
And  the  wind  fill'd  it.     Roar'd  the  sable  flood 
Around  the  bark,  that  ever  as  she  went 
Dash'd  wide  the  brine,  and  scudded  swift  away." 

(Cowper's  Homer.) — Sheffield. 

2  [Thomas  Gale.  Evelyn  recorded  on  Jan.  29,  1683  :  "Supped  at  Sir  Joseph 
Williamson's,  where  was  a  select  company  of  our  Society  [the  Royal  Society], 
Sir  William  Petty,  Dr.  Gale  (that  learned  schoolmaster  of  St.  Paul's),  etc. 
The  conversation  was  philosophical  and  cheerful,  on  divers  considerable 
questions  proposed  ;  as  of  the  hereditary  succession  of  the  Roman  Emperors  " 
(Evelyn's  Diary,  ii.,  180).  Gale  was  made  Dean  of  York.  See  Pepys's  Diary, 
ed.  1851,  v.,  423,  for  an  amusing  anecdote  about  his  ghost.] 

3  [Gibbon  recorded  on  Dec.  31,  1763:  "  I  have  always  been  an  admirer  of 
Strabo's  good  sense  and  variety  of  knowledge.  Antiquity  has  left  us  more 
brilliant  performances  than  his ;  but  I  know  of  none  more  solid  and  more 
useful"  (Misc.   Works,  v.,  445).] 

4 [See  ii.,  v.,  252-55,  262-69,  273-77,  for  Gibbon's  study  and  criticism  of 
Longinus  in  1762.  On  Oct.  3  he  recorded  :  "  Till  now  I  was  acquainted  only 
with  two  ways  of  criticising  a  beautiful  passage  :  the  one,  to  show  by  an  exact 
anatomy  of  it  the  distinct  beauties  of  it,  and  whence  they  sprung  ;  the  other,  an 
idle  exclamation,  or  a  general  encomium,  which  leaves  nothing  behind  it. 
Longinus  has  shown  me  that  there  is  a  third.  He  tells  me  his  own  feelings 
upon  reading  it ;  and  tells  them  with  such  energy  that  he  communicates  them  " 
(id.,  p.  263).     See  also  The  Decline,  i.,  58,  309.] 

■'[Horatii  Flacci  Epistolce  ad  Piso?ies  et  Augustum  ;  with  an  English  Com- 
mentary and  Notes.      Second  edition.     Cambridge,  1757.      Gibbon  wrote  of 


1760-62]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  143 

subjects  of  composition  and  imitation  of  epic  and  dramatic 
poetry,  I  presumed  to  think  for  myself;  and  thirty  close- 
written  pages  in  folio  could  scarcely  comprise  my  full  and  free 
discussion  of  the  sense  of  the  master  and  the  pedantry  of  the 
servant. 

After  his  oracle  Dr.  Johnson,1  my  friend  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds 
denies  all  original  genius,  any  natural  propensity  of  the  mind 
to  one  art  or  science  rather  than  another.2  Without  engaging 
in  a  metaphysical  or  rather  verbal  dispute,  I  know,  by  experi- 
ence, that  from  my  early  youth  I  aspired  to  the  character  of 
an  historian.3  While  I  served  in  the  militia,  before  and  after 
the  publication  of  my  essay,  this  idea  ripened  in  my  mind ; 
nor  can  I  paint  in  more  lively  colours  the  feelings  of  the 
moment,  than  by  transcribing  some  passages,  under  their 
respective  dates,  from  a  journal  which  I  kept  at  that  time. 

Buriton,  April  14,  1761. 

(In  a  short  excursion  from  Dover.) 

"  Having  thought  of  several  subjects  for  an  historical  com- 
position, I  chose  the  expedition  of  Charles  VIII.  of  France 
into  Italy.4  I  read  two  memoirs  of  Mr.  de  Foncemagne 5 
in  the  Academy  of  Inscriptions  (torn,  xvii.,  pp.  53,9 — 607),  and 

Hurd :  "  I  know  few  writers  more  deserving  of  the  great,  though  prostituted, 
name  of  critic  ;  but,  like  many  critics,  he  is  better  qualified  to  instruct  than  to 
execute.  His  manner  appears  to  me  harsh  and  affected,  and  his  style  clouded 
with  obscure  metaphors,  and  needlessly  preplexed  with  expressions  exotic  or 
technical.  .  .  .  His  discourse  upon  the  several  provinces  of  the  drama  is  a 
truly  critical  performance  ;  I  may  even  say,  a  truly  philosophical  one"  (Misc. 
Works,  iv. ,  113,  134).     See  post,  pp.  146,  178. 

Boswell  wrote  a  long  note  on  one  of  Hurd's  Notes  (Life  of  Johnson,  iii.,  74).] 

'["We  are  both  of  Dr.  Johnson's  school,"  Reynolds  wrote  to  a  friend. 
"  He  may  be  said  to  have  formed  my  mind,  and  to  have  brushed  from  it  a 
great  deal  of  dust  "  (John.  Misc.,    ii.,  227;  Boswell's  Johnson,  i.,  245).] 

2  [See  Appendix  25.] 

"[Ante,  p.  43.  Gibbon  was  an  exception  to  Johnson's  rule.  "  Never  ask 
a  baby  of  seven  years  old,"  he  said,  "  which  way  his  genius  leads  him,  when  we 
all  know  that  a  boy  of  seven  years  old  has  no  genius  for  anything  except  a 
peg-top  and  an  apple-pie"  (John.  Misc.,  i. ,  314).] 

4 ["I  meditate,"  Gibbon  wrote,  "a  history  of  the  expedition  of  Charles 
VIII.  into  Italy  ;  an  event  which  changed  the  face  of  Europe"  (Misc.  Works, 
iii.,  206).  "  In  five  months  Charles  VIII.  traversed  affrighted  Italy  as  a  con- 
queror, gave  laws  to  the  Florentines  and  the  Pope,  was  acknowledged  King  of 
Naples,  and  assumed  the  title  of  Emperor  of  the  East  "  (id.,  p.  51).] 

5  [Post,  p.  153.] 


144  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1762 

abstracted  them.  I  likewise  finished  this  day  a  dissertation, 
in  which  I  examine  the  right  of  Charles  VIII.  to  the  crown 
of  Naples,  and  the  rival  claims  of  the  House  of  Anjou  and 
Arragon  :  it  consists  of  ten  folio  pages,  besides  large  notes."  x 

Buriton,  August  4,  1761. 

(In  a  week's  excursion  from  Winchester  camp.) 

"After  having  long  revolved  subjects  for  my  intended 
historical  essay,  I  renounced  my  first  thought  of  the  ex- 
pedition of  Charles  VIII.  as  too  remote  from  us,  and  rather  an 
introduction  to  great  events,  than  great  and  important  in 
itself.  I  successively  chose  and  rejected  the  crusade  of 
Richard  the  First,  the  barons'  wars  against  John  and  Henry 
III.,  the  History  of  Edward  the  Black  Prince,  the  lives  and 
comparisons  of  Henry  V.  and  the  Emperor  Titus,  the  life  of 
Sir  Philip  Sidney,  or  that  of  the  Marquis  of  Montrose.  At 
length  I  have  fixed  on  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  for  my  hero.  His 
eventful  story  is  varied  by  the  characters  of  the  soldier  and 
sailor,  the  courtier  and  historian  ;  and  it  may  afford  such  a 
fund  of  materials  as  I  desire,  which  have  not  yet  been  properly 
manufactured.  At  present  I  cannot  attempt  the  execution  of 
this  work.  Free  leisure,  and  the  opportunity  of  consulting 
many  books,  both  printed  and  manuscript,  are  as  necessary  as 
they  are  impossible  to  be  attained  in  my  present  way  of  life. 
However,  to  acquire  a  general  insight  into  my  subject  and 
resources,  I  read  the  life  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  by  Dr.  Birch,2 
his  copious  article  in  the  General  Dictionary  by  the  same  hand, 
and  the  reigns  of  Queen  Elizabeth  and  James  the  First  in 
Hume's  History  of  England." 

Buriton,  January   1762. 

(In  a  month's  absence  from  the  Devizes.) 

"  During  this  interval  of  repose,  I  again  turned  my  thoughts 
to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  and  looked  more  closely  into  my  mate- 
rials. I  read  the  two  volumes  in  quarto  of  the  Bacon  Papers, 
published  by  Dr.  Birch  ;  the  Fragmenta  Regalia  of  Sir  Robert 

1[jl/isc.    Works,  iii. ,  206.  ] 

2  [See  Boswell's  Johnson,  i.,  226,  for  Johnson's  letter  to  Birch  about  an  auto- 
graph manuscript  of  Raleigh's.] 


1762]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  145 

Naunton,  Mullet's  Life  of  Lord  Raco//,1  and  the  political 
treatises  of  that  great  man  in  the  first  volume  of  his  works, 
with  many  of  his  letters  in  the  second  ;  Sir  William  Monson's 
Naval  Tracts,  and  the  elaborate  Life  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
which  Mr.  Oldys  has  prefixed  to  the  best  edition  of  his  History 
of  the  World.'1  My  subject  opens  upon  me,  and  in  general 
improves  upon  a  nearer  prospect.'' 

Buriton,  July  26,  1762. 

(During  my  summer  residence.) 

"  I  am  afraid  of  being  reduced  to  drop  my  hero  ;  but  my 
time  has  not,  however,  been  lost  in  the  research  of  his  story, 
and  of  a  memorable  aera  of  our  English  annals.  The  Life  of 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  by  Oldys,  is  a  very  poor  performance  ;  a 
servile  panegyric,  or  flat  apology,  tediously  minute,  and  com- 
posed in  a  dull  and  affected  style.  Yet  the  author  was  a  man 
of  diligence  and  learning,  who  had  read  everything  relative  to 
his  subject,  and  whose  ample  collections  are  arranged  with 
perspicuity  and  method.  Excepting  some  anecdotes  lately 
revealed  in  the  Sidney  and  Bacon  Papers/  I  know  not  what  I 
should  be  able  to  add.  My  ambition  (exclusive  of  the  uncer- 
tain merit  of  style  and  sentiment)  must  be  confined  to  the 
hope  of  giving  a  good  abridgment  of  Oldys.4  I  have  even 
the  disappointment  of  finding  some  parts  of  this  copious  work 
very  dry  and  barren  ;  and  these  parts  are  unluckily  some  of 
the  most  characteristic  :  Raleigh's  colony  of  Virginia,  his 
quarrels  with  Essex,  the  true  secret  of  his  conspiracy,  and, 


1  [Ante,  p.  82,  n.  1.] 

2  [Published  in  1736  in  2  vols. ,  folio.] 

3  ["  Letters  and  Memorials  of  State,  wrote  and  collected  by  the  Sydney s,  etc.  ; 
published  by  Arthur  Collins  Esq.  ;  2  vols.  "  (Gent.  Mag.,  1746,  p.  276). 

"  Letters,  Speeches,  Charges,  etc.,  of  Lord  Chancellor  Bacon  ;  published  by  T. 
Birch,  D.D."  (ib. ,  1762,  p.  602).] 

4 [A  list  of  Oldys's  writings  is  given  in  the  Gent.  Mag.,  1784,  pp.  161,  272. 
"  He  was  thrown  into  the  Fleet  prison  for  debt.  .  .  .  After  his  release,  such 
was  his  affection  for  the  place  he  left  that  he  constantly  spent  his  evenings  in  it. 
He  was  an  excellent  picker-up  of  facts  and  materials  ;  but  had  so  little  the 
power  of  arranging  them,  or  connecting  them  by  intermediate  ideas,  that  he 
was  obliged  to  discontinue  his  labours  in  the  Biographia  Britannica,  and,  I 
have  been  told,  proceeded  no  further  than  the  letter  A  "  (ib.,  p.  260  ;  see  also 
Boswell's  J  oh  nson,  i.,  175).] 

10 


146  EDWAKD  GIBBON  [1762 

above  all,  the  detail  of  his  private  life,  the  most  essential  and 
important  to  a  biographer.  My  best  resource  would  be  in  the 
circumjacent  history  of  the  times,  and  perhaps  in  some  digres- 
sions artfully  introduced,  like  the  fortunes  of  the  Peripatetic 
philosophy  in  the  portrait  of  Lord  Bacon.  But  the  reigns  of 
Elizabeth  and  James  the  First  are  the  period  of  English 
history  which  has  been  the  most  variously  illustrated  :  and 
what  new  lights  could  I  reflect  on  a  subject  which  has  exer- 
cised the  accurate  industry  of  Birch,1  the  lively  and  curious 
acuteness  of  Walpole,'2  the  critical  spirit  of  Hurd,3  the  vigorous 
sense  of  Mallei  and  Robertson,  and  the  impartial  philosophy  of 
Hume  ?  Could  I  even  surmount  these  obstacles,  I  should 
shrink  with  terror  from  the  modern  history  of  England,  where 
every  character  is  a  problem,  and  every  reader  a  friend  or  an 
enemy  ;  where  a  writer  is  supposed  to  hoist  a  flag  of  party, 
and  is  devoted  to  damnation  by  the  adverse  faction.  Such 
would  be  my  reception  at  home  :  and  abroad,  the  historian  of 
Raleigh  must  encounter  an  indifference  far  more  bitter  than 
censure  or  reproach.  The  events  of  his  life  are  interesting  ; 
but  his  character  is  ambiguous,  his  actions  are  obscure,  his 
writings  are  English,  and  his  fame  is  confined  to  the  narrow 
limits  of  our  language  and  our  island.  I  must  embrace  a  safer 
and  more  extensive  theme. 

1  [Boswell's  Johnson,  i. ,  160,  «.] 

2  [Horace  Walpole  published  in  1758  his  Catalogue  of  Royal  and  Noble 
Authors. 

Gibbon,  reviewing  in  1768  in  the  Mimoires  Britanniques  his  Historic 
Doubts  on  Richard  III.,  says  :  "  Avant  lui  l'histoire  litteraire,  abandonnee 
aux  manoeuvres  de  la  literature,  n'avait  pr£sent6  que  des  nomenclatures  seches, 
ou  des  recherches  minutieuses  et  pueriles.  La  noblesse  savante  de  M.  Walpole 
a  amus6  les  gens  du  monde,  et  a  merits  l'attention  des  philosophes  "  (Misc. 
Works,  iii. ,  331).  In  some  notes,  to  which  Lord  Sheffield  assigns  the  date 
of  1768  or  1769,  Gibbon  describes  Walpole  as  "that  ingenious  trifler,"  and 
goes  on  to  criticise  "  a  very  puerile  reflexion  "  of  his  (ib.,  v.,  571).] 

3  [Gibbon  refers  to  Hurd's  Moral  and  Political  Dialogues  (1759),  which  are 
described  by  Boswell  as  having  "  a  woefully  Whiggish  cast  "  (Boswell's  Johnson, 
iv.,  190).  It  was  "these,"  said  George  III.,  "that  made  Hurd  a  Bishop" 
(Parr's  Works,  i. ,  312,  323).  Parr  was  told  by  Porson  that  "many  notable 
discoveries  might  be  made  by  comparing  the  varia  lectiones,  the  clippings  and 
the  filings,  the  softenings  and  the  varnishings  of  sundry  constitutional  doctrines, 
as  they  crept  by  little  and  little  into  the  different  successive  editions  "  (ib. ,  iii., 
369)-] 


1762]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  147 

"  There  is  one  which  1  should  prefer  to  all  others,  The  History 
of  the  Liberty  of  the  Swiss,1  of  that  independence  which  a  brave 
people  rescued  from  the  House  of  Austria,  defended  against 
a  Dauphin  of  France,  and  finally  sealed  with  the  blood  of 
Charles  of  Burgundy.  From  such  a  theme,  so  full  of  public 
spirit,  of  military  glory,  of  examples  of  virtue,  of  lessons  of 
government,  the  dullest  stranger  would  catch  fire  ;  what 
might  not  /  hope,  whose  talents,  whatsoever  they  may  be, 
would  be  inflamed  with  the  zeal  of  patriotism.  But  the 
materials  of  this  history  are  inaccessible  to  me,  fast  locked 
in  the  obscurity  of  an  old  barbarous  German  dialect,  of  which 
I  am  totally  ignorant,2  and  which  I  cannot  resolve  to  learn  for 
this  sole  and  peculiar  purpose. 

"  I  have  another  subject  in  view,  which  is  the  contrast  of 
the  former  history  :  the  one  a  poor,  warlike,  virtuous  republic, 
which  emerges  into  glory  and  freedom  ;  the  other  a  common- 
wealth, soft,  opulent,  and  corrupt ;  which,  by  just  degrees,  is 
precipitated  from  the  abuse  to  the  loss  of  her  liberty  :  both 
lessons  are,  perhaps,  equally  instructive.  This  second  subject 
is,  The  History  of  the  Republic  of  Florence  under  the  House  of 
Medicis :  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  which  rises 
or  descends  from  the  dregs  of  the  Florentine  democracy,  to 
the  title  and  dominion  of  Cosmo  de  Medicis  in  the  Grand 
Duchy  of  Tuscany.  I  might  deduce  a  chain  of  revolutions 
not  unworthy  of  the  pen  of  Vertot 3  ;  singular  men,  and 
singular  events  ;  the  Medicis  four  times  expelled,  and  as 
often  recalled  ;  and  the  Genius  of  Freedom  reluctantly  yield- 
ing to  the  arms  of  Charles  V.  and  the  policy  of  Cosmo.  The 
character  and  fate  of  Savanarola,  and  the  revival  of  arts  and 
letters  in  Italy,  will  be  essentially  connected  with  the  eleva- 
tion of  the  family  and  the  fall  of  the  republic.  The  Medicis 
stirps  quasi  fataliter  nata  ad  instauranda  vel  fovenda  studia 
(Lipsius  ad  Germanos  et  Gallos,  Epist.  viii.)  were  illustrated 
by    the    patronage   of  learning  ;    and    enthusiasm 4   was    the 


Post,  p.  171.] 

_Gibbon  never  learnt  German  (post,  p.  233).] 
Ante,  p.  90.]  i[Ib.,  p.  22,  n.] 


148  EDWAKD  GIBBON  [176 


most  formidable  weapon  of  their  adversaries.  On  this  splendid 
subject  I  shall  most  probably  fix  ;  but  when,  or  where,  or  how 
will  it  be  executed  ?  I  behold  in  a  dark  and  doubtful  perspec- 
tive." 

Res  alta  terra,  et  caligine  mersas.1 

The  youthful  habits  of  the  language  and  manners  of  France 
had  left  in  my  mind  an  ardent  desire  of  revisiting  the  Continent 
on  a  larger  and  more  liberal  plan.  According  to  the  law  of 
custom,  and  perhaps  of  reason,  foreign  travel  completes  the 
education  of  an  English  gentleman  2  :  my  father  had  consented 
to  my  wish,  but  I  was  detained  above  four  years  by  my  rash 
engagement  in  the  militia.  I  eagerly  grasped  the  first 
moments  of  freedom  :  three  or  four  weeks  in  Hampshire  and 
London  were  employed  in  the  preparations  of  my  journey, 
and  the  farewell  visits  of  friendship  and  civility :  my  last  act 
in  town  was  to  applaud  Mallet's  new  tragedy  of  Elvira 3 ;  a 
post-chaise  conveyed  me  to  Dover,  the  packet  to  Boulogne, 
and  such  was  my  diligence,  that  I  reached  Paris  4  on  the  28th 
of  January,  1763,  only  thirty-six  days  after  the  disbanding  of 
the  militia.  Two  or  three  years  were  loosely  defined  for  the 
term  of  my  absence  ;  and  I  was  left  at  liberty  to  spend  that 
time  in  such  places  and  in  such  a  manner  as  was  most  agree- 
able to  my  taste  and  judgment.5 

In  this  first  visit  I  passed  three  months  and  a  half  (January 
28 — May  9),  and  a  much  longer  space  might  have  been  agree- 
ably filled,  without  any  intercourse  with  the  natives.  At 
home  we  are  content  to  move  in  the  daily  round  of  pleasure 

1  [Virgil,  sEneid,  vi. ,  267.] 

2[/W,  p.  167.]  3 [See  Appendix  26.] 

4 [Horace  Walpole,  travelling  the  same  journey  in  1765,  wrote:  "From 
Boulogne  to  Paris  it  will  cost  me  near  ten  guineas  ;  but  then  consider,  I  travel 
alone,  and  carry  Louis  most  part  of  the  way  in  the  chaise  with  me.  Nous 
autres  milords  Anglais  are  not  often  so  frugal"  (Walpole's  Letters,  iv. ,  402). 
Gibbon  also  travelled  alone  in  a  post-chaise  (Cor res.,  i. ,  27).] 

0  [In  addition  to  the  annuity  which  he  enjoyed  of  ^300,  £1,200  was  allowed 
by  his  father  for  "the  extraordinaries  of  his  travels"  (Auto.,  pp.  155,  156). 
"  Whilst  I  was  abroad,"  he  wrote,  "  I  spent  about  £700  a  year,  a  sum,  which 
with  the  unavoidable  expences  of  travelling,  barely  supports  the  appearance  of 
an  English  gentleman"  (Carres.,  i. ,  136).] 


1763]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  149 

and  business ;  and  a  scene  which  is  always  present  is  supposed 
to  be  within  our  knowledge,  or  at  least  within  our  power. 
But  in  a  foreign  country,  curiosity  is  our  business  and  our 
pleasure ;  and  the  traveller,  conscious  of  his  ignorance,  and 
covetous  of  his  time,  is  diligent  in  the  search  and  the  view  of 
every  object  that  can  deserve  his  attention.  I  devoted  many 
hours  of  the  morning  to  the  circuit  of  Paris  and  the  neighbour- 
hood, to  the  visit  of  churches  and  palaces  conspicuous  by  their 
architecture,  to  the  royal  manufactures,  collections  of  books 
and  pictures,  and  all  the  various  treasures  of  art,  of  learning, 
and  of  luxury.1  An  Englishman  may  hear  without  reluctance, 
that  in  these  curious  and  costly  articles  Paris  is  superior  to 
London ;  since  the  opulence  of  the  French  capital  arises  from 
the  defects  of  its  government  and  religion.  In  the  absence 
of  Louis  XIV.  and  his  successors,  the  Louvre  has  been  left  un- 
finished :  but  the  millions  which  have  been  lavished  on  the 
sands  of  Versailles,  and  the  morass  of  Marli,  could  not  be 
supplied  by   the  legal   allowance   of  a   British   king.2      The 

1  [Horace  Walpole  wrote  from  Paris  to  Gray  on  Nov.  19,  1765  [Letters,  iv., 
435)  :  "  The  charms  of  Paris  have  not  the  least  attraction  for  me,  nor  would 
keep  me  an  hour  on  their  own  account.  For  the  city  itself,  I  cannot  conceive 
where  my  eyes  were  ;  it  is  the  ugliest,  beastliest  town  in  the  universe."] 

2  [Versailles  and  Marli,  wrote  Gibbon,  "  have  been  cemented  with  the  blood 
of  the  people"  {Auto.,  p.  263).  Voltaire  (QF.uvres,  xxv. ,  311)  says  of  Versailles  : 
"  II  [Louis  XIV]  depensa  a  ce  palais  et  aux  jardins  plus  de  cinq  cents  millions, 
qui  en  font  plus  de  neuf  cents  de  notre  espece  actuelle  [^36,000,000].  M.  le 
Due  de  Crequi  lui  disait  :  '  Sire,  vous  avez  beau  faire,  vous  n'en  ferez  jamais 
qu'un  favori  sans  mente.'  "  Adam  Smith  points  out  the  harm  that  was  done 
in  another  way  by  Versailles.  He  instances  it  as  one  of  those  towns,  "  supported 
by  the  constant  or  occasional  residence  of  a  Court,  in  which  the  inferior  ranks  of 
people  being  chiefly  maintained  by  the  spending  of  revenue,  are  in  general  idle, 
dissolute,  and  poor"  (Wealth  of  Nations,  ed.  1811,  ii.,  91).  Gibbon  wrote  in 
1776  of  Louis's  expenditure  on  his  army  and  navy  :  "  France  still  feels  that 
extraordinary  effort  "  (  The  Decline,  i.,  18). 

I  have  seen  a  copy  of  The  Guardian  in  which  Mrs.  Piozzi  recorded  on  the 
margin  of  No.  101 :  "  Poor  lost  Versailles  !  Its  misfortunes  have  been  prettily 
celebrated  in  a  popular  street  ballad  of  August,  1794,  when  there  was  much 
talk  of  an  invasion  from  France  : — 

' '  '  No  British  palace  e'er  was  built 

With  poor  men's  blood  or  tears,  Sir, 
Like  proud  Versailles  pollute  with  guilt, 

Which  found  a  lot  severe,  Sir. 
Then  let  them  shun  our  happy  shore, 

Or  back  again  we'll  bang  'em  ; 
And  of  their  Tree  of  Liberty 

A  gallows  make  to  hang  them.'  "] 


150  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1768 

splendour  of  the  French  nobles  is  confined  to  their  town 
residence  ;  that  of  the  English  is  more  usefully  distributed  in 
their  country  seats  ;  and  we  should  be  astonished  at  our  own 
riches,  if  the  labours  of  architecture,  the  spoils  of  Italy  and 
Greece,  which  are  now  scattered  from  Inverary  *  to  Wilton,2 
were  accumulated  in  a  few  streets  between  Marybone  and 
Westminster.  All  superfluous  ornament  is  rejected  by  the 
cold  frugality  of  the  protestants  ;  but  the  catholic  superstition, 
which  is  always  the  enemy  of  reason,  is  often  the  parent  of  the 
arts.  The  wealthy  communities  of  priests  and  monks  expend 
their  revenues  in  stately  edifices ;  and  the  parish  church  of 
St.  Sulpice,  one  of  the  noblest  structures  in  Paris,  was  built 
and  adorned  by  the  private  industry  of  a  late  cure.3  In  this 
outset,  and  still  more  in  the  sequel  of  my  tour,  my  eye  was 
amused  ;  but  the  pleasing  vision  cannot  be  fixed  by  the  pen  ; 
the  particular  images  are  darkly  seen  through  the  medium  of 
five-and-twenty  years,  and  the  narrative  of  my  life  must  not 
degenerate  into  a  book  of  travels. 

But  the  principal  end  of  my  journey  was  to  enjoy  the 
society  of  a  polished  and  amiable  people,  in  whose  favour  I 
was  strongly  prejudiced,4  and  to  converse  with  some  authors, 

1  [The  seat  of  the  Dukes  of  Argyle.  "  What  I  admire  here,"  said  Johnson, 
"  is  the  total  defiance  of  all  expence  "  (Boswell's  Johnson,  v.,  355).] 

2  [The  seat  of  the  Earls  of  Pembroke.  "Versailles,"  wrote  Adam  Smith, 
"is  an  ornament  and  an  honour  to  France,  Stowe  and  Wilton  to  England" 
{Wealth  of  Nations,  ii.,  109).] 

3  [Voltaire  said  in  an  article  entitled  Des  Embellissemens  de  Paris  (1749)  : 
"  A  qui  appartient-il  d'embellir  la  ville,  sinon  aux  habitans  qui  jouissent  dans 
son  sein  de  tout  ce  que  l'opulence  et  les  plaisirs  peuvent  prodiguer  aux  hommes  ? 
.  .  .  Te  ne  demande  autre  chose,  sinon  qu'on  veuille  avec  fermete\  .  .  .  Le 
celebre  curt;  de  Saint-Sulpice  voulut,  et  il  batit,  sans  aucun  fonds,  un  vaste 
Edifice"  (CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  xxvi.,  162,  170).  The  cure\  who  died  in  1750, 
was  J.  B.  Languet  de  Gergy  (id.,  n.). 

Gibbon  recorded  in  his  journal  on  Feb.  21,  1763  :  "  Nous  jetames  ensuite  un 
coup-d'ceil  sur  l'^glise  de  Saint-Sulpice,  dont  la  facade  (le  pr^texte  et  le  fruit  de 
tant  de  lotteries)  n'est  point  encore  achevee  "  (Misc.   Works,  i.,  160).] 

In  The  Morning  Chronicle,  Nov.  25,  1793,  under  date  of  Paris,  Nov.  11,  it 
is  reported  that  "  the  Sections  of  Mutius  Screvola  and  of  the  Red  Cap  brought 
twenty  hand  carriages  full  of  the  precious  spoils  of  the  Church  of  St.  Sulpitius. 
'  That  superb  Temple,'  said  the  Orator,  '  whose  gold,  marble  and  brass 
reproach  us  with  widows'  and  orphans'  tears,  shall  be  shut  till  the  moment  of 
its  regeneration,  when  it  shall  be  dedicated  to  Reason.'  Honourable  mention."] 

4 [In  1781  Gibbon  described  Lewis  XVI.  as  "the  absolute  monarch  of  an 
industrious,  wealthy  and  affectionate  people"  (The  Decline,  ii.,  196).  "If 
Julian,"  he  wrote,  "  could  now  revisit  the  capital  of  France,  he  might  converse 


1763]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  151 

whose  conversation,  as  I  fondly  imagined,  must  be  far  more 
pleasing  and  instructive  than  their  writings.  The  moment 
was  happily  chosen.  At  the  close  of  a  successful  war  the 
British  name  was  respected  on  the  continent. 

Clarum  et  venerabile  nomen 
Gentibus.1 

Our  opinions,  our  fashions,  even  our  games,  were  adopted  in 
France,  a  ray  of  national  glory  illuminated  each  individual, 
and  every  Englishman  was  supposed  to  be  born  a  patriot  and 
a  philosopher.2  For  myself,  I  carried  a  personal  recommen- 
dation :  my  name  and  my  Essay  were  already  known  ;  the 
compliment  of  having  written  in  the  French  language  entitled 
me  to  some  returns  of  civility  and  gratitude.  I  was  considered 
as  a  man  of  letters,3  who  wrote  for  amusement.  Before  my 
departure  I  had  obtained  from  the  Duke  de  Nivernois,4  Lady 
Hervey,5  the  Mallets,  Mr.  Walpole,  etc.,  many  letters  of 
recommendation  to  their  private  or  literary  friends.  Of  these 
epistles  the  reception  and  success  were  determined  by  the 

with  men  of  science  and  genius,  capable  of  understanding  and  of  instructing  a 
disciple  of  the  Greeks  ;  he  might  excuse  the  lively  and  graceful  follies  of  a  nation, 
whose  martial  spirit  has  never  been  enervated  by  the  indulgence  of  luxury  ;  and 
he  must  applaud  the  perfection  of  that  inestimable  art  which  softens  and  refinas 
and  embellishes  the  intercourse  of  social  life"  (ib.,  ii.,  287).  Eleven  years  later 
he  described  France  as  "  that  inhospitable  land  in  which  a  people  of  slaves  is 
suddenly  become  a  nation  of  tyrants  and  cannibals.  .  .  .  Our  only  hope  is 
now  in  their  devouring  one  another ;  they  are  furious  and  hungry  monsters  " 
[Misc.   Works,  ii. ,  469,  474).] 

l[Lucan,  ix.,  202.  For  Burke's  fine  application  of  these  lines  to  Lord 
Chatham  see  E.  J.  Payne's  Burke,  i.,  144.] 

2  [See  Appendix  27.] 

3[After  "letters"  follows  in  the  original,  "  or  rather  as  a  gentleman  "  (Auto., 
p.  200).  See  ib.  for  his  boast  how  his  dress,  etc.,  distinguished  him  from  other 
authors.] 

4 [Gibbon  wrote  of  him:  "A  noble  statesman,  who  has  managed  weighty 
and  delicate  negociations,  ingeniously  illustrates  the  political  system  of  Clovis  " 
( The  Decline,  iv. ,  102).  To  the  Duke  he  was  introduced  by  Maty.  "He 
received  me  civilly,  but  (perhaps  through  Maty's  fault)  treated  me  more  as  a 
man  of  letters  than  as  a  man  of  fashion"  {Misc.  Works,  i.,  157).  Gibbon,  it 
seems,  had  something  of  the  same  feeling  as  Congreve,  who  "  disgusted  Voltaire 
by  the  despicable  foppery  of  desiring  to  be  considered  not  as  an  author,  but  a 
gentleman  ;  to  which  the  Frenchman  replied,  that  if  he  had  been  only  a  gentle- 
man, he  should  not  have  come  to  visit  him  "  (Johnson's  Works,  viii.,  30).] 

h[Ante,  p.  115.] 


152  EDWARD  GIBBON  [176s 

character  and  situation  of  the  persons  by  whom  and  to  whom 
they  were  addressed :  the  seed  was  sometimes  cast  on  a 
barren  rock,  and  it  sometimes  multiplied  an  hundred  fold  in 
the  production  of  new  shoots,  spreading  branches,  and 
exquisite  fruit.  But  upon  the  whole,  I  had  reason  to  praise 
the  national  urbanity,  which  from  the  court  has  diffused  its 
gentle  influence  to  the  shop,  the  cottage,  and  the  schools.1 
Of  the  men  of  genius  of  the  age,  Montesquieu  and  Fontenelle 
were  no  more  ;  Voltaire  resided  on  his  own  estate  near  Geneva  ; 
Rousseau  in  the  preceding  year  had  been  driven  from  his 
hermitage  of  Montmorency ; 2  and  I  blush  at  my  having 
neglected  to  seek,  in  this  journey,  the  acquaintance  of  Buffon.3 
Among  the  men  of  letters  whom  I  saw,  D'Alembert  and 
Diderot  held  the  foremost  rank  in  merit,  or  at  least  in  fame. 
I  shall  content  myself  with  enumerating  the  well-known 
names  of  the  Count  de  Caylus,4  of  the  Abbe  de  la  Bleterie, 
Barthelemy,  Raynal,  Arnaud,  of  Messieurs  de  la  Condamine, 
du  Clos,  de  Ste  Palaye,  de  Bougainville,  Caperonnier,  de 
Guignes,  Suard,  etc.,  without  attempting  to  discriminate  the 
shades  of  their  characters,  or  the  degrees  of  our  connection. 
Alone,  in  a  morning  visit,  I  commonly  found  the  artists  and 
authors  of  Paris  less  vain,  and  more  reasonable,  than  in  the 
circles  of  their  equals,  with  whom  they  mingle  in  the  houses 


1  [Gibbon  recorded  in  his  journal  in  May,  1763:  "  Heureux  effet  de  ce 
caractere  leger  et  aimable  du  Francais,  qui  a  etabli  dans  Paris  une  douceur  et 
une  liberty  dans  la  society,  inconnues  a  l'antiquite\  et  encore  ignorees  des  autres 
nations"  (Misc.   Works,  i.,  163). 

"  In  general,"  writes  Walpole  (Letters,  iv. ,  413),  "the  style  of  conversation 
is  solemn,  pedantic,  and  seldom  animated  but  by  a  dispute.  I  was  expressing 
my  aversion  to  disputes.  Mr.  Hume,  who  very  gratefully  admires  the  tone  of 
Paris,  having  never  known  any  other  tone,  said  with  great  surprise,  "Why, 
what  do  you  like,  if  you  hate  both  disputes  and  whisk  [whist]  ? "] 

2  ["  Montmorency  is  a  dirty  little  town  14  miles  from  Paris.  In  the  house 
called  LErmitage,  about  half  a  mile  off,  Rousseau  resided  "  (Murray's  Hand- 
book for  France,  ed.  1859,  p.  22).  His  Emile,  published  in  1762,  being  con- 
demned by  the  Parliament  of  Paris,  he  fled  (CEuvres  de  Rousseau,  ed.  1782, 
xxiv.,  3).] 

3 [''The  immortal  Buffon|"  (The  Decline,  iv.,  243).  "Read  (it  is  no  un- 
pleasing  task)  the  incomparable  articles  of  the  Horse  and  the  Camel  in  the 
Natural  History  of  M.  de  Buffon"  (id. ,  v.,  315  ;  see  fust,  p.  199).] 

4  [For  these  eminent  men  and  women  see  Appendix  28.] 


1763]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  153 

of  the  rich.1  Four  clays  in  a  week,  I  had  a  place,  without 
invitation,  at  the  hospitable  tables  of  Mesdames  Geoffrin  and 
du  Bocage,  of  the  celelmated  Helvetius,  and  of  the  Baron 
d'Olbach.  In  these  symposia  the  pleasures  of  the  table  were 
improved  by  lively  and  liberal  conversation 2  ;  the  company 
was  select,  though  various  and  voluntary. 

The  society  of  Madame  du  Bocage  was  more  soft  and 
moderate  than  that  of  her  rivals,  and  the  evening  con- 
versations of  M.  de  Foncemagne  were  supported  by  the 
good  sense  and  learning  of  the  principal  members  of  the 
Academy  of  Inscriptions.  The  opera  and  the  Italians  1 
occasionally  visited  ;  but  the  French  theatre,  both  in  tragedy 
and  comedy,  was  my  daily  and  favourite  amusement.  Two 
famous  actresses  then  divided  the  public  applause.  For  my 
own  part,  I  preferred  the  consummate  art  of  the  Claron,  to 
the  intemperate  sallies  of  the  Dumesnil,3  which  were  extolled 
by  her  admirers,  as  the  genuine  voice  of  nature  and  passion.4 

!["  Every  woman  has  one  or  two  authors  planted  in  her  house,  and  God 
knows  how  they  water  them"  (Walpole's  Letters,  iv. ,  416).  "You  know  in 
England  we  read  their  works,  but  seldom  or  never  take  any  notice  of  authors. 
We  think  them  sufficiently  paid  if  their  books  sell,  and  of  course  leave  them  to 
their  colleges  and  obscurity,  by  which  means  we  are  not  troubled  with  their 
vanity  and  impertinence"  (id. ,  v.,  26).] 

2 [For  "  the  intolerant  zeal"  of  the  guests  see  Auto.,  pp.  204,  262.] 

:f [Horace  Walpole  wrote  two  years  later:  "The  Dumesnil  is  still  the 
Dumesnil,  and  nothing  but  curiosity  could  make  me  want  the  Clairon  [she  had 
left  the  stage]  "  (Walpole's  Letters,  iv. ,  407,  422).  In  1779  he  wrote  :  "  I  cannot 
think  that  acting,  however  perfectly,  what  others  have  written  is  one  of  the  most 
astonishing  talents  ;  yet  I  will  own  as  fairly  that  Mrs.  Porter  and  Mademoiselle 
Dumesnil  have  struck  me  so  much  as  even  to  reverence  them  "  (id.,  vii. ,  170). 
Grimm,  in  1790,  described  Mrs.  Siddons  as  "la  Clairon  ou  la  Dumesnil  de 
l'Angleterre  "  (Me'moires,  etc.,  vii.,  405).] 

4 [Here  follows  a  passage  in  two  of  the  Memoirs  (Auto.,  pp.  205,  263),  where 
he  writes  that  he  "  reserved  for  the  last  the  most  exquisite  blessing  of  life— a 
female  friend  who  received  me  every  evening  with  the  smile  of  confidence  and 
joy  ".  To  his  step-mother  he  wrote  of  her  :  "  She  seems  to  have  conceived  a 
real  motherly  attachment  for  me  "  (Corres.,  i. ,  31).  If  the  attachment  that  she 
felt  for  him  was  of  that  nature,  why  did  he  record  (A  uto. ,  p.  263)  :  "  If  her  heart 
was  tender,  if  her  passions  were  warm,  decency  and  gratitude  should  cast  a  veil 
over  her  frailties  "  ?    Why,  we  may  ask,  did  he  thus  raise  the  veil  ? 

In  1766  he  wrote  to  a  Lausanne  friend  [the  original  spelling  is  reproduced]  : 
"  J'espere,  mon  cher  ami,  que  vous  ne  vous  etes  rejette  a  corps  perdu  dans  la 
fureur  amoureuse.  .  .  .  Je  ne  sai  si  vous  goutez  mes  principes  et  la  preference 
que  je  commence  a  donner  au  Physique  de  1' Amour  sur  le  Moral.  A  la  cour  de 
Cyth^re,  comme  dans  toutes  les  autres,  ne  vaut  il  pas  mieux  faire  des  Dupes  que 
de  l'etre  soi-meme?     Cette  facon  ramene  tot  ou  tard  un  homme  sens£  mais 


154  EDWARD  GIBBON  [i76» 

Fourteen  weeks  insensibly  stole  away  ;  but  had  I  been  rich 
and  independent,  I  should  have  prolonged,  and  perhaps  have 
fixed,  my  residence  at  Paris. 

Between  the  expensive  style  of  Paris  and  of  Italy  it  was 
prudent  to  interpose  some  months  of  tranquil  simplicity  ;  and 
at  the  thoughts  of  Lausanne  I  again  lived  in  the  pleasures  and 
studies  of  my  early  youth.  Shaping  my  course  through  Dijon 
and  Besangon,  in  the  last  of  which  places  I  was  kindly  enter- 
tained by  my  cousin  Acton,1  I  arrived  in  the  month  of  May 
1763  on  the  banks  of  the  Leman  Lake.  It  had  been  my 
intention  to  pass  the  Alps  in  the  autumn,  but  such  are  the 
simple  attractions  of  the  place,  that  the  year  had  almost 
expired  before  my  departure  from  Lausanne  in  the  ensuing 
spring.  An  absence  of  five  years  had  not  made  much  altera- 
tion in  manners,  or  even  in  persons.  My  old  friends,  of  both 
sexes,  hailed  my  voluntary  return  ;  the  most  genuine  proof  of 
my  attachment.  They  had  been  flattered  by  the  present  of 
my  book,  the  produce  of  their  soil  ;  and  the  good  Pavilliard 
shed  tears  of  joy  as  he  embraced  a  pupil,  whose  literary  merit 
he  might  fairly  impute  to  his  own  labours.  To  my  old  list  I 
added  some  new  acquaintance,  and  among  the  strangers  I 
shall  distinguish  Prince  Lewis  of  Wirtemberg,  the  brother  of 
the  reigning  Duke,2  at  whose  country-house,  near  Lausanne, 
I  frequently  dined  :  a  wandering  meteor,  and  at  length  a 
falling  star,  his  light   and  ambitious  spirit  had   successively 


honnete  et  delicat  au  commerce  des  femmes  marines.  Une  femme  ne  peut 
jamais  m^connoitre  vos  vues,  et  vous  n'aurez  point  la  douleur  de  vous  reprocher 
le  malheur  d'une  jeune  personne  qui  n'est  6te  trop  credule  que  parcequ'elle  vous 
a  trop  aime.  Monsieur  le  Mari  (je  parle  des  pays  Civilises,  et  la  Suisse  com- 
mence a  l'etre)  se  sent  soulage  d'une  partie  du  fardeau  qu'il  ne  portoit  qu'a 
regret,  et  ne  sait  comment  temoigner  sa  reconnoissance  a  son  bon  ami  qui  veut 
bien  rechercher  comme  un  plaisir  ce  qu'il  lui  paraissoit  un  devoir  penible  " 
( Read's  Hist.  Studies,  ii.,  354)-] 

1  [Ante,  p.  24  ;  Carres.,  i. ,  37.] 

2  [Voltaire  had  lent  the  Duke  80,000  francs,  tempted  by  the  high  interest. 
Gibbon  wrote  in  1768  :  "  The  Duke  is  ruined,  the  security  worth  nothing,  and 
the  money  vanished  ".  Three  years  earlier  Voltaire,  announcing  the  sale  of  his 
villa,  Les  Dilices,  had  written  :  "  J'ai  craint  de  mourir  de  faim  aussi  bien  que 
de  vieillesse  ".  In  1778,  by  the  intervention  of  the  King  of  Prussia,  he  was  paid 
back  20,000  francs  (CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  liii.,  38  ;  lxi.,  331  ;  Gibbon  Cor  res.,  i., 


1763]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  155 

dropped  from  the  firmament  of  Prussia,  of  France,  and  of 
Austria  ;  and  his  faults,  which  he  styled  his  misfortunes,  had 
driven  him  into  philosophic  exile  in  the  Pays  de  Vaud.  He 
could  now  moralize  on  the  vanity  of  the  world,  the  equality  of 
mankind,  and  the  happiness  of  a  private  station.  His  address 
was  affable  and  polite,  and  as  he  had  shone  in  courts  and 
armies,  his  memory  could  supply,  and  his  eloquence  could 
adorn,  a  copious  fund  of  interesting  anecdotes.  His  first 
enthusiasm  was  that  of  charity  and  agriculture  ;  but  the  sage 
gradually  lapsed  in  the  saint,  and  Prince  Lewis  of  Wirtemberg 
is  now  buried  in  a  hermitage  near  Mayence,  in  the  last  stage 
of  mystic  devotion.1  By  some  ecclesiastical  quarrel,  Voltaire 
had  been  provoked  to  withdraw  himself  from  Lausanne,  and 
retire  to  his  castle  at  Ferney,2  where  I  again  visited  the  poet 
and  the  actor,  without  seeking  his  more  intimate  acquaintance, 
to  which  I  might  now  have  pleaded  a  better  title.  But  the 
theatre  which  he  had  founded,  the  actors  whom  he  had 
formed,  survived  the  loss  of  their  master  3 ;  and,  recent  from 
Paris,  I  attended  with  pleasure  at  the  representation  of 
several  tragedies  and  comedies.  I  shall  not  descend  to 
specify  particular  names  and  characters  ;  but  I  cannot  forget 
a  private  institution,  which  will  display  the  innocent  freedom 


1  [Gibbon  recorded  of  him  :  "  Je  vois  qu'il  n'a  point  l'orgueil  d'un  prince 
Allemand,  et  l'indignation  qu'il  faisait  paraitre  contre  un  de  ses  ancetres,  qui 
avait  voulu  vendre  un  village  pour  acheter  un  cheval,  me  fait  espeYer  qu'il  n'en 
a  pas  la  durete\  Je  croirais  assez  qu'il  a  toujours  un  peu  manque  de  prudence 
et  de  conduite  ;  des  projets  aussi  ambitieux  que  chimeriques  dont  on  l'accuse, 
sa  vie  ambulante,  ses  querelles  avec  son  frere,  ses  dissipations,  sa  disgrace  a 
la  cour  de  Vienne  ;  tout  contribue  a  m'en  persuader"  (Misc.  Works,  i. ,  166). 
Gibbon  adds  in  a  footnote  :  "  V.  Le  Testament  Politique  du  Mardchal  de  Belle- 
isle.  Ouvrage  digne  d'un  laquais,  mais  d'un  laquais  de  ministre,  qui  a  entendu 
beaucoup  d'anecdotes  curieuses. "  Voltaire  wrote  to  the  Prince  in  1756  :  "  Un 
vieux  malade,  retire  sur  les  bords  d'un  lac,  n'est  plus  fait  pour  entretenir 
un  jeune  prince  guerrier,  quelque  philosophe  que  soit  ce  prince  "  (GStivres  de 
Voltaire,  lviii.,  ii. ,  31  ;  see  also  ib.  for  his  letters  to  Voltaire).] 

2  ["  II  habita  d'abord  alternativement  Monrion,  sur  le  territoire  de  Lausanne, 
et  les  Delices,  sur  celui  de  Geneve  (1755-57)  ;  mais,  au  bout  de  quelques  annees 
(1758),  se  trouvant  trop  pres  des  tracasseries  tant  politiques  que  religieuses  de  la 
republique  genevoise,  il  fit  acquisition  de  Tourney  et  de  Ferney,  deux  terres  du 
pays  de  Gex,  entre  lesquelles  il  se  partageait.  II  unit  par  se  fixer  a  Ferney  " 
(Biog.  Univ.,  xlix.,  479).] 

3  [Ante,  p.  104.] 


156  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1763-64 

of  Swiss  manners.1  My  favourite  society  had  assumed,  from 
the  age  of  its  members,  the  proud  denomination  of  the  spring 
{la  society  du  printems).2  It  consisted  of  fifteen  or  twenty 
young  unmarried  ladies,  of  genteel,  though  not  of  the  very 
first  families  ;  the  eldest  perhaps  about  twenty,  all  agreeable, 
several  handsome,  and  two  or  three  of  exquisite  beauty.  At 
each  other's  houses  they  assembled  almost  every  day,  without 
the  controul,  or  even  the  presence,  of  a  mother  or  an  aunt ; 
they  were  trusted  to  their  own  prudence,  among  a  crowd  of 
young  men  of  every  nation  of  Europe.  They  laughed,  they 
sung,  they  danced,  they  played  at  cards,  they  acted  comedies  ; 
but  in  the  midst  of  this  careless  gaiety,  they  respected  them- 
selves, and  were  respected  by  the  men  ;  the  invisible  line 
between  liberty  and  licentiousness  was  never  transgressed  by 
a  gesture,  a  word,  or  a  look,  and  their  virgin  chastity  was 
never  sullied  by  the  breath  of  scandal  or  suspicion  :  a  singular 
institution,  expressive  of  the  innocent  simplicity  of  Swiss 
manners.  After  having  tasted  the  luxury  of  England  and 
Paris,  I  could  not  have  returned  with  satisfaction  to  the  coarse 
and  homely  table  of  Madame  Pavilliard  3  ;  nor  was  her  husband 
offended  that  I  now  entered  myself  as  a  pensionnaire,  or  boarder, 
in  the  elegant  house  of  Mr.  De  Mesery,  which  may  be  entitled 
to  a  short  remembrance,  as  it  has  stood  above  twenty  years, 
perhaps,  without  a  parallel  in  Europe.  The  house  in  which 
we  lodged  was  spacious  and  convenient,  in  the  best  street,  and 
commanding,  from  behind,  a  noble  prospect  over  the  country 
and  the  Lake.  Our  table  was  served  with  neatness  and 
plenty ;  the  boarders  were  select 4  ;  we  had  the  liberty  of 
inviting  any  guests  at  a  stated  price  ;  and  in  the  summer  the 
scene  was  occasionally  transferred  to  a  pleasant  villa,  about  a 

1["  Lausanne,  Avril  17,  1764.  Les  femmes  sont  jolies,  et  malgre"  leur 
grande  liberty,  elles  sont  tres  sages.  Tout  au  plus  peuvent-elles  6tre  un  peu 
complaisantes,  dans  l'idee  honnete,  mais  incertaine,  de  prendre  un  Stranger 
dans  leurs  filets"  (Misc.    Works,  i. ,    178).] 

2  [General  Read  found  the  rules  of  the  society  in  the  garrets  of  La  Grotte 
(Hist.  Studies,  ii.,  326).] 

'[Ante,  pp.  84,  117.] 

4 [Gibbon  had  written,  "  the  boarders  were  numerous  "  (Auto.,  p.  208).  Lord 
Sheffield  made  them  "  select  ".] 


1763-64]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  157 

league  from  Lausanne.  The  characters  of  Master  and  Mistress 
were  happily  suited  to  each  other,  and  to  their  situation.  At 
the  age  of  seventy-five,  Madame  de  Mesery,  who  has  survived 
her  husband,  is  still  a  graceful,  I  had  almost  said,  a  handsome 
woman.  She  was  alike  qualified  to  preside  in  her  kitchen  and 
her  drawing-room  ;  and  such  was  the  equal  propriety  of  her 
conduct,  that  of  two  or  three  hundred  foreigners,  none  ever 
failed  in  respect,  none  could  complain  of  her  neglect,  and 
none  could  ever  boast  of  her  favour.  Mesery  himself,  of  the 
noble  family  of  De  Crousaz,1  was  a  man  of  the  world,  a  jovial 
companion,  whose  easy  manners  and  natural  sallies  maintained 
the  cheerfulness  of  his  house.  His  wit  could  laugh  at  his  own 
ignorance  :  he  disguised,  by  an  air  of  profusion,  a  strict  atten- 
tion to  his  interest  ;  and  in  this  situation  he  appeared  like  a 
nobleman  who  spent  his  fortune  and  entertained  his  friends.2 
In  this  agreeable  society  I  resided  nearly  eleven  months  (May 
1763 — April  1764)  ;  and  in  this  second  visit  to  Lausanne, 
among  a  crowd  of  my  English  companions,  I  knew  and 
esteemed  Mr.  Holroyd  (now  Lord  Sheffield)  ;  and  our  mutual 
attachment  was  renewed  and  fortified  in  the  subsequent  stages 
of  our  Italian  journey.3  Our  lives  are  in  the  power  of  chance, 
and  a  slight  variation  on  either  side,  in  time  or  place,  might 
have  deprived  me  of  a  friend,  whose  activity  in  the  ardour 
of  youth  was  always  prompted  by  a  benevolent  heart,4  and 
directed  by  a  strong  understanding. 

If  my  studies  at  Paris  had  been  confined  to  the  study  of 
the  world,  three  or  four  months   would  not  have  been  un- 


x\_Ante,  p.  87.  Gibbon,  writing  to  Lord  Sheffield  from  Lausanne  in  1787, 
about  "  a  novel  entitled  Caroime  de  Lichfield'''  continues  :  "  The  author,  who 
is  since  married  a  second  time  (Madame  de  Crousaz,  now  Montolieu),  is  a 
charming  woman.  I  was  in  some  danger  "  (Corres. ,  ii. ,  154  ;  post.  Appendix  66).] 

2  [' '  La  maison  de  M.  de  Misery  est  charmante  ;  le  caractere  franc  et 
geneYeux  du  mari,  les  agrtimens  de  la  femme,  une  situation  delicieuse,  une 
chere  excellente,  la  compagnie  de  ses  compatriotes,  et  une  liberty  parfaite, 
font  aimer  ce  sepur  a  tout  Anglais.  Que  je  voudrais  en  trouver  un  semblable 
a  Londres  ! ' '  (Misc.   Works,  i. ,  178. )] 

3["  Lausanne,  Avril  6,  1764.  J'ai  concuune  veritable  amitie'  pour  Holroyd. 
II  a  beaucoup  de  raison  et  des  sentimens  d'honneur,  avec  un  cceur  des  mieux 
places  (io.,  i. ,  176).] 

4  [He  was  a  strong  upholder  of  the  slave  trade  (post,  Appendix  54).] 


158  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1763-6*4 

profitably  spent.  My  visits,  however  superficial,  to  the 
Academy  of  Medals  1  and  the  public  libraries,  opened  a  new 
field  of  inquiry  ;  and  the  view  of  so  many  manuscripts  of 
different  ages  and  characters  induced  me  to  consult  the  two 
great  Benedictine  works,  the  Diplomatica  of  Mabillon,'2  and 
the  Palceographia  of  Montfaucon."  I  studied  the  theory  with- 
out attaining  the  practice  of  the  art :  nor  should  I  complain 
of  the  intricacy  of  Greek  abbreviations  and  Gothic  alphabets, 
since  every  day,  in  a  familiar  language,  I  am  at  a  loss  to 
decipher  the  hieroglyphics  of  a  female  note.  In  a  tranquil 
scene,  which  revived  the  memory  of  my  first  studies,  idleness 
would  have  been  less  pardonable  :  the  public  libraries  of 
Lausanne  and  Geneva  liberally  supplied  me  with  books  ;  and 
if  many  hours  were  lost  in  dissipation,4  many  more  were 
employed  in  literary  labour.  In  the  country,  Horace  and 
Virgil,  Juvenal  and  Ovid,  were  my  assiduous  companions  :  but, 
in  town,  I  formed  and  executed  a  plan  of  study  for  the  use 
of  my  Transalpine  expedition  :  the  topography  of  old  Rome, 
the  ancient  geography  of  Italy,  and  the  science  of  medals. 
1.  I  diligently  read,  almost  always  with  my  pen  in  my  hand, 
the  elaborate  treatises  of  Nardini,  Donatus,  etc.,  which  fill 
the  fourth  volume  of  the  Roman  Antiquities  of  Graevius.5  2. 
I  next  undertook  and  finished  the  Italia  Antiqua  of  Cluverius, 


1  ["  L'Academie  des  Belles-Lettres,  formed  d'abord  en  1663  de  quelques 
membres  de  l'Academie  Francaise,  pour  transmettre  a  la  postent6  par  des 
medailles  les  actions  de  Louis  XIV,  devint  utile  au  public  des  qu'elle  ne  fut 
plus  uniquement  occupee  du  monarque,  et  qu'elle  s'appliqua  aux  recherches  de 
l'antiquit^  "  etc.  (CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  xviii. ,  240).] 

2  ["  C'est  lui  qui,  etant  charge  de  montrer  le  tresor  de  Saint-Denis,  demanda 
a  quitter  cet  emploi,  parce  qu'il  n'aimait  pas  a  meter  la  fable  avec  la  viritL  II 
a  fait  de  profondes  recherches  "  (id.,  xvii.,  122).] 

3  ["  L'un  des  plus  savans  antiquaires  de  1'Europe"  (id.,  p.  132).  "His 
Library  of  Manuscripts  is  almost  necessary  for  every  man  of  letters  "  (Gibbon, 
Misc.    Works,  v.,  344).] 

4  ["  Septembre  21,  1763.  Ma  reputation  baisse  ici  avec  quelque  raison." 
"  Septembre  25.  J'avais  une  tres  belle  reputation  ici  pour  les  moeurs,  mais  je 
vois  qu'on  commence  a  me  confondre  avec  mes  compatriotes,  et  a  me  regarder 
comme  un  homme  qui  aime  le  vin  et  le  desordre  "  (Misc.  Works,  i. ,  170).  These 
excesses  he  attributed  partly  "  to  the  habits  of  the  militia  "  (Auto.,  p.  208).  On 
Dec.  18,  he  recorded  that  he  had  lost  in  gambling  "  une  quarantaine  de  Louis  " 
(Misc.    Works,  i.,  171).] 

r'[Seeib.,  v.,  313-43.] 


1768-64]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  159 

a  learned  native  of  Prussia,  who  had  measured,  on  foot,  every 
spot,  and  has  compiled  and  digested  every  passage  of  the 
ancient  writers.  These  passages  in  Greek  or  Latin  authors 
I  perused  in  the  text  of  Cluverius,  in  two  folio  volumes  '  : 
but  I  separately  read  the  descriptions  of  Italy  by  Strabo,'2 
Pliny,  and  Pomponius  Mela,3  the  Catalogues  of  the  Epic 
poets,4  the  Itineraries  of  Wesseling's  Antoninus, G  and  the 
coasting  Voyage  of  Rutilius  Nuinatianus/'  and  I  studied  two 
kindred  subjects  in  the  Mesures  Itineraires  of  D'Anville,7  and 
the  copious  work  of  Bergier,  Hisloire  den  grands  Chemins  de 
I " Empire  Romania  From  these  materials  I  formed  a  table  of 
roads  and  distances  reduced  to  our  English  measure  9  ;  filled 
a  folio  common-place  book  with  my  collections  and  remarks 
on  the  geography  of  Italy  10  ;  and  inserted  in  my  journal  many 
long  and  learned  notes  on  the  insula?  and  populousness  of 
Rome,11  the  social  war,1-  the  passage  of  the  Alps  by  Hannibal,13 

1  [Misc.  Works,  v.,  356-427  ;  429-431.  "  Cluverius,"  he  writes,  "  is  too  diffuse. 
.  .  .  Our  men  of  letters  are  afraid  to  encounter  two  volumes  in  folio"  (ib. ,  p.  429).] 

2  [Ante,  p.  142.] 

;!  [Johnson,  when  in  1763  he  accompanied  Boswell  to  Harwich,  "  had  in  his 
pocket  Pomponius  Mela  de  Situ  Orbis,  in  which  he  read  occasionally,  and 
seemed  very  intent  upon  ancient  geography  "  (Boswell's  Johnson,  i. ,  465).] 

4  [Gibbon  in  two  papers  examined  these  catalogues  (Misc.  Works,  iv. ,  327- 
335)-] 

6  [lb.,  v.,  293.] 

6  [lb.,  v.,  435-442.  Gibbon,  censuring  Rutilius's  "swelling  words,"  con- 
tinues :  "  I  doubt  whether  Belle  rophonteis  sollicitudinibus  be  ever  quoted,  except 
on  account  of  the  singularity  that  two  words  should  compose  a  pentameter 
verse  "  (ib. ,  p.  440).  In  The  Decline  (iii. ,  234)  he  translates  his  description  of 
the  monks  of  the  Island  of  Capraria.] 

7  ["  The  master  hand  of  the  first  of  geographers,"  writes  Gibbon  of  D'Anville 
(The  Decline,  v.,  450).  In  another  passage  he  says  that  "  even  that  ingenious 
geographer  is  too  fond  of  supposing  new,  and  perhaps  imaginary  measures, 
for  the  purpose  of  rendering  ancient  writers  as  accurate  as  himself  "  (ib. ,  ii. ,  145). 
D'Anville  undertook  "four  maps  of  Roman  geography  of  a  size  and  nature 
suited  to  the  History  [The  Decline],"  but  he  never  executed  them  (Misc.  Works, 
ii.,  201).] 

*  [Printed  in  1622  (Giuvres  de  Voltaire,  xvii. ,  49).  Gibbon  speaks  of  "  une 
infinite'  de  digressions  aussi  belles  que  savantes  dont  M.  Bergier  a  rempli  son 
histoire"  (Misc.    Works,  iv.,  324).] 

9  ["  March  29,  1764.  I  wrote  two  pages  on  the  Itineraries  and  high  Roads  of 
the  Romans ;  and  stop  short  at  present  with  a  rich  fund  of  ninety-two  folio 
pages  closely  written"  (ib.,  v.,  475).] 

10  [lb.,  \w.,  155-326.]  "  [lb.,  v.,  317.] 
12  [lb.,  v.,  389.]  K[Ib.,v.,Z1o.-\ 


160  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1764-65 

etc.  .'3.  After  glancing  my  eye  over  Addison's  agreeable 
dialogues,1  I  more  seriously  read  the  great  work  of  Ezechiel 
Spanheim  de  Prcestantia  el  Usu  Numismatum,2  and  applied 
with  him  the  medals  of  the  kings  and  emperors,  the  families 
and  colonies,  to  the  illustration  of  the  ancient  history.  And 
thus  was  I  armed  for  my  Italian  journey.3 

I  shall  advance  with  rapid  brevity  in  the  narrative  of  this 
tour,  in  which  somewhat  more  than  a  year  (April  1764  to 
May  1765)  was  agreeably  employed.  Content  with  tracing 
my  line  of  march,  and  slightly  touching  on  my  personal  feel- 
ings, I  shall  waive  the  minute  investigation  of  the  scenes 
which  have  been  viewed  by  thousands,  and  described  by 
hundreds  of  our  modern  travellers.  Rome  is  the  great  object 
of  our  pilgrimage  :  and  1st,  the  journey  ;  2nd,  the  residence  ; 
and  3rd,  the  return,  will  form  the  most  proper  and  perspicuous 
division.  1.  I  climbed  Mount  Cenis,  and  descended  into  the 
plain  of  Piedmont,  not  on  the  back  of  an  elephant,  but  on  a 
light  osier  seat,  in  the  hands  of  the  dextrous  and  intrepid 
chairmen  of  the  Alps.4     The  architecture  and  government  of 

1  [Dialogues  on  Medals  (Addison's  Works,  ed.  1862,  i.,  255).  It  was  not 
published  till  after  the  author's  death  (ib.,  p.  337).  "  He  dwells  on  the  striking 
connection  between  the  reverses  of  medals  and  the  descriptions  of  Latin  poets. 
.  .  .  The  passages  of  the  poets  are  selected  with  taste  ;  and  the  author's 
reflections  are  replete  with  judgment  and  sagacity"  (Gibbon,  Misc.   Works,  v., 

455)0 

2  ["  April  12,  1764.  I  re-examined  Spanheim's  work,  which  is  a  real  treasury 
of  medallic  erudition,  a  classic  book  on  this  science"  {ib.,  v.,  482).  Spanheim 
gave  Bentley  his  portrait,  who  bequeathed  it  to  Trinity  College,  Cambridge 
(Monk's  Bentley,  ii. ,  442).] 

3  ["  Lausanne,  Avril  17,  1764.  Je  quitte  Lausanne  avec  moins  de  regret 
que  la  premiere  fois.  .  .  .  Je  voyais  Lausanne  avec  les  yeux  encore  novices  d'un 
jeune  homme,  qui  lui  devait  la  partie  raisonnable  de  son  existence,  et  qui  jugeait 
sans  objets  de  comparaison.  Aujourd'hui  j'y  vois  une  ville  mal  batie,  au  milieu 
d'un  pays  delicieux,  qui  jouit  de  la  paix  et  du  repos,  et  qui  les  prend  pour  la 
libert6"  (Misc.   Works,  i.,  178).] 

4  [Gray  and  Horace  Walpole  crossed  Mont  Cenis  early  in  November,  1739. 
"  At  Lanebourg  we  were  wrapt  up  in  our  furs,  and  seated  upon  a  sort  of  matted 
chair  without  legs,  which  is  carried  upon  poles  in  the  manner  of  a  bier,  and  so 
began  to  ascend  by  the  help  of  eight  men.  It  was  six  miles  to  the  top,  where 
a  plain  opens  itself  about  as  many  more  in  breadth.  .  .  .  The  descent  is  six 
more,  but  infinitely  more  steep  than  the  going  up  ;  and  here  the  men  perfectly 
fly  down  with  you.  .  .  .  We  were  but  five  hours  in  performing  the  whole " 
(Mitford's  Gray,  ii. ,  67).  "  So,  as  the  song  says,  we  are  in  fair  Italy  !  I  wonder 
we  are  ;  for  on  the  very  highest  precipice  of  Mount  Cenis,  the  devil  of  discord, 
in  the  similitude  of  sour  wine,  had  got  amongst  our  Alpine  savages,  and  set 


1764-65]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  161 

Turin  presented  the  same  aspect  of  tame  and  tiresome  uni- 
formity :  but  the  court  was  regulated  with  decent  and  splendid 
ceconomy 1 ;  and  I  was  introduced  to  his  Sardinian  majesty 
Charles  Emanuel,2  who,  after  the  incomparable  Frederick, 
held  the  second  rank  (proximus  longo  tamen  intervallo 3) 
among  the  kings  of  Europe.4  The  size  and  populousness  of 
Milan  could  not  surprise  an  inhabitant  of  London :  but  the 
fancy  is  amused  by  a  visit  to  the  Boromean  Islands,  an  en- 
chanted palace,  a  work  of  the  fairies  in  the  midst  of  a  lake 
encompassed  with  mountains,  and  far  removed  from  the 
haunts  of  men.5  I  was  less  amused  by  the  marble  palaces  of 
Genoa,  than  by  the  recent  memorials  of  her  deliverance  (in 

them  a-fighting,  with  Gray  and  me  in  the  chairs  ;  they  rushed  him  by  me  on 
a  crag,  where  there  was  scarce  room  for  a  cloven  foot.  The  least  slip  had 
tumbled  us  into  such  a  fog,  and  such  an  eternity  as  we  should  never  have  found 
our  way  out  of  again.  .  .  .  We  had  twelve  men  and  nine  mules  to  carry  us, 
our  servants,  and  baggage."  The  day  before,  "in  broad  sunshine,"  Walpole's 
little  dog  had  been  carried  off  by  a  wolf  (Walpole's  Letters,  i. ,  28).] 

1  [The  day  before  he  was  presented  at  Court  he  wrote  :  "  Everything  follows 
the  example  of  the  Court,  which  from  one  of  the  most  polite  in  Europe  is  be- 
come bigoted,  gloomy  and  covetous"  (Corres. ,  i. ,  56). 

Twenty-five  years  earlier  Horace  Walpole  had  written:  " 'Tis  really  by 
far  one  of  the  prettiest  cities  I  have  seen  ;  not  one  of  your  large  straggling  ones 
that  can  afford  to  have  twenty  dirty  suburbs,  but  clean  and  compact,  very  new 
and  very  regular.  The  King's  palace  is  not  of  the  proudest  without,  but  of  the 
richest  within  ;  painted,  gilt,  looking-glassed,  very  costly,  but  very  tawdry  ;  in 
short  a  very  popular  palace"  (Walpole's  Letters,  i. ,  29). 

In  The  Decline  (iv. ,  501)  Gibbon,  speaking  of  "the  barbarous  practice  of 
wearing  arms  in  the  midst  of  peace,"  continues  :  "  The  historian  who  considers 
this  circumstance  as  the  test  of  civilization  would  disdain  the  barbarism  of  an 
European  Court  ".] 

2 ["The  most  sociable  women  I  have  met  with  are  the  King's  daughters.  I 
chatted  for  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  with  them,  talked  about  Lausanne,  and 
grew  so  very  free  and  easy  that  I  drew  my  snuff-box,  rapped  it,  took  snuff  twice 
(a  crime  never  known  before  in  the  presence-chamber),  and  continued  my  dis- 
course in  my  usual  attitude,  of  my  body  bent  forwards,  and  my  fore-finger 
stretched  out"  [Corres.,  i.,  58).] 

3["  Proximus  huic,  longo  sed  proximus  intervallo." 

(Virgil,  sEneid,  v.,  320.) 

"  The  next,  but  though  the  next,  yet  far  disjoined." 

(Dryden.)] 

4[Voltaire  thus  describes  Charles  Emanuel  (CEuvres,  xix.,  426) :  "On  avait 
a  redouter  en  lui  un  politique  et  un  guerrier  ;  un  prince  qui  savait  bien  choisir 
ses  ministres  et  ses  g£n6raux,  et  qui  pouvait  se  passer  d'eux,  grand  g£n£ral  lui- 
m6me  et  grand  ministre".] 

5  [Gibbon  improves  on  the  description  he  gave  of  these  islands  in  a  letter — 
"  which,  by  the  help  of  some  imagination,  we  conclude  to  be  a  very  delightful, 
though  not  an  enchanted  place"  (Corres.,  i.,  60).] 

11 


162  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1764-6.5 

December  1746)  from  the  Austrian  tyranny;  and  I  took  a 
military  survey  of  every  scene  of  action  within  the  enclosure 
of  her  double  walls.1  My  steps  were  detained  at  Parma  and 
Modena,  by  the  precious  relics  of  the  Farnese  and  Este 
collections  :  but,  alas !  the  far  greater  part  had  been  already 
transported,  by  inheritance  or  purchase,  to  Naples  and 
Dresden.  By  the  road  of  Bologna  and  the  Apennine  I  at 
last  reached  Florence,  where  I  reposed  from  June  to 
September,  during  the  heat  of  the  summer  months.  In  the 
Gallery,  and  especially  in  the  Tribune,2  I  first  acknowledged, 
at  the  feet  of  the  Venus  of  Medicis,  that  the  chisel  may  dis- 
pute the  pre-eminence  with  the  pencil,  a  truth  in  the  fine 
arts  which  cannot  on  this  side  of  the  Alps  be  felt  or  under- 
stood.3 At  home  I  had  taken  some  lessons  of  Italian  :  on 
the  spot  I  read,  with  a  learned  native,  the  classics  of  the 
Tuscan  idiom  :  but  the  shortness  of  my  time,  and  the  use  of 
the  French  language  prevented  my  acquiring  any  facility  of 
speaking ;  and  I  was  a  silent  spectator  in  the  conversations  of 
our  envoy,  Sir  Horace  Mann,  whose  most  serious  business  was 
that  of  entertaining  the  English  at  his  hospitable  table.4  After 
leaving  Florence   I   compared  the  solitude  of  Pisa  with  the 


1  [The  Austrians,  supported  by  the  Piedmontese  and  a  squadron  of  English 
ships,  took  Genoa  on  Sept.  7,  1746.  In  December,  the  people,  exasperated  by 
their  harsh  treatment,  rose  in  a  riot  and  drove  them  out.  "  L' Europe  vit  avec 
surprise  qu'un  peuple  faible,  nourri  loin  des  armes,  et  qui  ni  son  enceinte  de 
rochers,  ni  les  rois  de  France,  d'Espagne,  de  Naples,  n'avaient  pu  sauver  du 
joug  des  Autrichiens,  l'eut  brise'  sans  aucun  secours,  et  eut  chass£  ses  vainqueurs  " 
(CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  xix. ,  164,  168-72). 

Gibbon  recorded  in  his  journal  how  the  people  formed  "  un  conseil  qu'on 
appellait  Assemblee  du  Peuple.  .  .  .  Elle  rendait  ses  ordonnances  sous  peine  de 
la  vie,  et  tenait  son  bourreau  assis  sur  les  degres  d'une  6glise,  et  pres  d'une 
potence  pour  les  faire  executer"  {Misc.   Works,  i.,  181).] 

2 [The  Tribune,  or  Tribuna,  is  part  of  the  Galleria  degli  Uffizi.] 

3  [Gibbon  recorded  in  his  journal  an  interesting  criticism  of  many  of  the 
Roman  busts  (Misc.  Works,  i. ,  186-91),  which  might  well  be  included  in  the 
Guide  Books  to  Florence.] 

4  [Gibbon  recorded  on  July  29:  "  Toute  la  nation  dina  chez  M.  Mann" 
(Misc.  Works,  i.,  191). 

Gray  described  Mann  in  1739  as  "  the  best  and  most  obliging  person  in  the 
world"  (Mitford's  Gray,  ii.,  79).  Horace  Walpole,  on  his  way  home,  began  at 
Calais,  in  September,  1741,  a  correspondence  with  him,  which  he  kept  up  till 
Mann's  death  in  1786.  During  this  long  period  they  never  met  (Walpole's 
Letters,  i.,  71 ;  ix.,  59).] 


1764-6.5]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  163 

industry  of  Lucca  and  Leghorn,  and  continued  my  journey 
through  Sienna  to  Rome,  where  I  arrived  in  the  beginning  of 
October.  2.  My  temper  is  not  very  susceptible  of  enthu- 
siasm x ;  and  the  enthusiasm  which  I  do  not  feel,  I  have  ever 
scorned  to  affect.  But,  at  the  distance  of  twenty-five  years, 
I  can  neither  forget  nor  express  the  strong  emotions  which 
agitated  my  mind  as  I  first  approached  and  entered  the  eternal 
city?  After  a  sleepless  night,  I  trod,  with  a  lofty  step,  the 
ruins  of  the  Forum  3 ;  each  memorable  spot  where  Romulus 
stood, i  or  Tully  spoke,  or  Caesar  fell,  was  at  once  present  to 
my  eye 5 ;  and  several  days  of  intoxication  were  lost  or  en- 
joyed before  I  could  descend  to  a  cool  and  minute  investiga- 
tion.6 My  guide  was  Mr.  Byers,  a  Scotch  antiquary  of 
experience  and  taste  7 ;  but,  in  the  daily  labour  of  eighteen 
weeks,  the  powers  of  attention  were  sometimes  fatigued,  till 
I  was  myself  qualified,  in  a  last  review,  to  select  and  study 
the  capital  works  of  ancient  and  modern  art.  Six  weeks  were 
borrowed    for    my    tour    of    Naples,    the    most    populous    of 


1  [For  the  sense  in  which  this  word  was  generally  used  see  ante,  pp.  22,  11.  2, 
147.  Here  Gibbon  uses  it  in  the  sense  which  it  bears  now — defined  by  Johnson 
as,  "  elevation  of  fancy  ;  exaltation  of  ideas  ".] 

2["  Romulus  /Eternae  nondum  formaverat  Urbis 
Mcenia,  consorti  non  habitanda  Remo." 

(Tibullus,  ii.,  5,  23.)] 
3 [Gibbon,  describing  how  "  amidst  the  ruins  of  his  country  Leo  IV.  stood 
erect,  like  one  of  the  firm  and  lofty  columns  that  rear  their  heads  above  the 
fragments  of  the  Roman  Forum,"  adds  in  a  note  :  "  I  have  borrowed  Voltaire's 
general  expression,  but  the  sight  of  the  Forum  has  furnished  me  with  a  more 
distinct  and  lively  image"  (The  Decline,  vi.,  41).] 

4  [Gibbon  refers,  I  think,  to  Livy,  i.,  12,  where  Romulus,  hurried  along  by 
his  fleeing  soldiers,  vowed  a  temple  to  Jupiter  Stator,  if  the  god  would  stop  the 
flight.] 

s["  To  the  eye  of  liberal  enthusiasm  the  majesty  of  ruin  restored  the  image 
of  her  ancient  prosperity  "  (  The  Decline,  vii.,  132). 

Gray  wrote  from  Rome  in  1740  :  "  Mr.  Walpole  says  our  memory  sees  more 
than  our  eyes  in  this  country.  Which  is  extremely  true"  (Mitford's  Gray,  ii., 
in).] 

6 [Gibbon,  a  day  or  two  after  his  arrival,  wrote:  "I  am  convinced  there 
never,  never  existed  such  a  nation,  and  I  hope  for  the  happiness  of  mankind 
there  never  will  again"  (Corres.,  i.,  67).] 

"[James  Byers  or  Byres.  Bishop  Percy  in  1791  described  him  as  "the 
Pope's  Antiquary  at  Rome"  (Nichols's  Illus.  of  Lit.,  vii.,  719.  See  also  ii.,  iii. , 
726).  He  at  one'time  owned  the  Portland  Vase,  but  he  sold  it  to  Sir  William 
Hamilton  (Diet,  of  Nat.  Biog.).] 


164  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1764-65 

cities,1  relative  to  its  size,  whose  luxurious  inhabitants  seem  to 
dwell  on  the  confines  of  paradise  and  hell-fire.  I  was  presented 
to  the  boy-king  2  by  our  new  envoy,  Sir  William  Hamilton  3  ; 
who,  wisely  diverting  his  correspondence  from  the  Secretary 
of  State  to  the  Royal  Society  and  British  Museum,  has 
elucidated  a  country  of  such  inestimable  value  to  the 
naturalist  and  antiquarian.  On  my  return,  I  fondly  em- 
braced, for  the  last  time,  the  miracles  of  Rome ;  but  I  de- 
parted without  kissing  the  feet  of  Rezzonico  (Clement  XIII.4), 
who  neither  possessed  the  wit  of  his  predecessor  Lambertini,5 
nor    the    virtues   of    his    successor    Ganganelli.6     3.    In    my 

1  [Gray  wrote  from  Naples:  "  My  wonder  still  increased  upon  entering  the 
city,  which  I  think  for  number  of  people  outdoes  both  Paris  and  London" 
(Mitford's  Gray,  ii.,  114).  "  That  city,  the  third  in  Christian  Europe,  contains 
more  inhabitants  (350,000)  in  a  given  space  than  any  other  spot  in  the  known 
world"  (The  Decline,  iv.,  308).] 

2  [Ferdinand  IV.  of  Naples,  afterwards  styled  Ferdinand  I.  of  the  United 
Kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicilies,  born  in  1751,  died  in  1825,  after  experiencing 
great  alternations  of  fortune  (see  the  Penny  Cyclopedia,  x.,  230).  Five  years 
after  his  death  his  daughter,  who  had  married  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  became 
Queen  of  France.  Horace  Walpole  wrote  on  Dec.  14,  1767,  to  Sir  Horace 
Mann  {Letters,  v.,  76)  :  "  So  your  King  of  Naples  is  a  madman  or  an  idiot ! 
And  they  set  aside  his  eldest  brother  on  the  same  pretence,  to  make  room  for 
him!"] 

3  [Horace  Walpole  wrote  to  Mann  on  June  8,  1764  {Letters,  iv.,  249) :  "  You 
have  a  new  neighbour  coming  to  you,  Mr.  William  Hamilton.  ...  He  is 
picture-mad,  and  will  ruin  himself  in  virtu-land.  His  wife  is  as  musical  as  he 
is  connoisseur,  but  she  is  dying  of  an  asthma."  His  second  wife  became  Lord 
Nelson's  mistress.  Lord  Holland  {Memoirs,  ii. ,  22)  describes  him  as  "  a  man  of 
mean  capacity,  but  of  some  cunning  and  experience".] 

4["  Epitaphe  du  Pape  Clement  XIII  : — 

"  Ci-git  des  vrais  croyans  le  mufti  tem6raire, 
Et  de  tous  les  Bourbons  l'ennemi  declare  : 
De  Jesus  sur  la  terre  il  s'est  dit  le  vicaire ; 
Je  le  crois  aujourd'hui  mal  avec  son  cureV' 

( CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  xii. ,  364. ) 
Lord  Chesterfield  wrote  to  his  son  in  1749  :  "  Remember  to  be  presented  to 
the  Pope  before  you  leave  Rome,  and  go  through  the  necessary  ceremonies  for 
it,  whether  of  kissing  his  slipper  or  .  .   ."  {Letters  to  his  Son,  ii. ,  222).] 

5  [Benedict  XIV.  Horace  Walpole  wrote  of  him  to  Mann  on  Nov.  29,  1756  : 
"  I  have  always  had  a  great  partiality  for  the  good  old  man  :  I  desire  you  will 
tell  me  any  anecdotes  or  stories  of  him  that  you  know  :  I  remember  some  of  his 
sayings  with  great  humour  and  wit"  {Letters,  iii. ,  49).  See  also  ii.,  p.  84,  for 
an  inscription  Walpole  wrote  behind  a  bas-relief  of  the  Pope.] 

6[Clement  XIV.  "  II  etait  repute  tres  sage  et  tres  circonspect,  au-dessus  des 
prejuges  monastiques,  et  capable  de  soutenir  par  sa  sagesse  le  colosse  du 
pontificat,  qui  semblait  menace  de  sa  chute.  C'est  lui  qui  a  enfin  aboli  la 
Societe  de  Jesus  par  sa  bulle  de  l'annfe  1773"  {CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  xix.,  861).] 


1764-65]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  165 

pilgrimage  from  Home  to  Loretto  I  again  crossed  the 
Apennine ;  from  the  coast  of  the  Adriatic  I  traversed  a 
fruitful  and  populous  country,  which  could  alone  disprove 
the  paradox  of  Montesquieu,  that  modern  Italy  is  a  desert.1 
Without  adopting  the  exclusive  prejudice  of  the  natives  I 
sincerely  admire  the  paintings  of  the  Bologna  school.2  I 
hastened  to  escape  from  the  sad  solitude  of  Ferrara,  which  in 
the  age  of  Caesar  was  still  more  desolate.0'     The  spectacle  of 


^Montesquieu  in  Lettres  persanes,  No.  113,  wrote  of  Italy  :  "  Quoique  tout 
le  monde  habite  les  villes,  elles  sont  entierement  ctesertes  et  d^peuplees".  He 
adds  :  "  Apres  un  calcul  aussi  exact  qu'il  peut  l'etre  dans  ces  sortes  de  choses, 
j'ai  trouve  qu'il  y  a  a  peine  sur  la  terre  la  dixieme  partie  des  hommes  qui  y 
6taient  de  temps  de  Cesar  ". 

Goldsmith  upheld  this  paradox  when,  inshis  Traveller  (1.  133),  he  said  of  the 
Italians  : — 

"  For  wealth  was  theirs,  not  far  remov'd  the  date, 
When  commerce  proudly  flourish'd  through  the  state. 


Till,  more  unsteady  than  the  southern  gale, 

Commerce  on  other  shores  display'd  her  sail ; 

While  nought  remain'd  of  all  that  riches  gave, 

But  towns  unmann'd,  and  lords  without  a  slave."] 
2 [It  was  Horace  Walpole's  "  favourite  school"  {Letters,  ix.,  465).  Reynolds, 
describing  this  school,  "  of  which  the  first  stone  was  laid  by  Pellegrino  Tibaldi," 
but  which  was  built  by  the  Caracci,  continues:  "But  the  divine  part,  which 
addresses  itself  to  the  imagination,  as  possessed  by  Michael  Angelo  or  Tibaldi, 
was  beyond  their  grasp  ;  they  formed,  however,  a  most  respectable  school,  a 
style  more  on  the  level,  and  calculated  to  please  a  greater  number;  and  if 
excellence  of  this  kind  is  to  be  valued  according  to  the  number,  rather  than  the 
weight  and  quality  of  admirers,  it  would  assume  even  a  higher  rank  in  art " 
(Reynolds's  Works,  ed.  1824,  ii.,  150). 

"  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Bolognese  painters  sufficed  for  the  eighteenth 
century,  whose  taste  indeed  they  had  created.  There  is  equally  no  doubt  that 
for  the  nineteenth  they  are  insufficient"  (Symonds's  Renaissance  in  Italy,  ed. 
1898,  vii.,  231). 

We  may  wonder  whether  at  Bologna  Gibbon  ate  sausages.  ' '  The  famous 
Bologna  sausages,"  he  writes,  "  are  said  to  be  made  of  ass  flesh"  (The  Decline, 
iv.,  320).  "  You  may  advise  me,"  said  Johnson,  "  to  go  to  live  at  Bologna  to 
eat  sausages.  The  sausages  there  are  the  best  in  the  world ;  they  lose  much  by 
being  carried"  (Boswell's  Johnson,  ii. ,  195).] 

:;["  In  the  time  of  Augustus,  and  in  the  middle  ages,  the  whole  waste  from 
Aquileia  to  Ravenna  was  covered  with  woods,  lakes  and  morasses  "  ( The  Decline, 
iv. ,  413).  An  ingenious  commentator  might  have  thought  that  Gibbon  referred 
to  Don  Caesar,  the  last  of  the  House  of  Este  who  ruled  Ferrara.  He  was  de- 
prived of  it,  writes  Gibbon,  by  "the  ambition  and  avarice"  of  Rome.  "On 
January  28,  1598,  he  evacuated  a  city  in  which  his  ancestors  had  reigned  near 
four  hundred  years.  .  .  .  Ferrara  was  left  to  the  solitude  and  poverty  of  a 
provincial  town,  under  the  government  of  priests  .  .  .  and  within  seventeen 
years  after  the  death  of  Alphonso  II.  [1597]  a  fourth  of  his  capital  was  already 
in  ruins"  (Misc.   Works,  iii.,  462).] 


166  EDWAED  GIBBON  [1 764-65 

Venice  afforded  some  hours  of  astonishment J ;  the  university 
of  Padua  is  a  dying  taper  '2 :  but  Verona  still  boasts  her 
amphitheatre,  and  his  native  Vicenza  is  adorned  by  the 
classic  architecture  of  Palladio  3  :  the  road  of  Lombardy  and 
Piedmont  (did  Montesquieu  find  them  without  inhabitants  ?) 
led  me  back  to  Milan,  Turin,  and  the  passage  of  Mount  Cenis, 
where  I  again  crossed  the  Alps  in  my  way  to  Lyons. 

The  use  of  foreign  travel  has  been  often  debated  as  a 
general  question ;  but  the  conclusion  must  be  finally  applied 
to  the  character  and  ch'cumstances  of  each  individual.  With 
the  education  of  boys,  where  or  how  they  may  pass  over  some 
juvenile  years  with  the  least  mischief  to  themselves  or  others, 
I    have    no    concern.4       But    after    supposing    the    previous 

J[For  a  curious  omission  in  the  original  see  Auto.,  p.  268.  From  Venice  he 
wrote  :  "  Of  all  the  towns  in  Italy  I  am  the  least  satisfied  with  Venice  ;  objects 
which  are  only  singular  without  being  pleasing  produce  a  momentary  surprise, 
which  soon  gives  way  to  satiety  and  disgust"  {Carres,  i.,  75).  "  The  republic 
of  Venice  has  deserved  the  least  from  the  gratitude  of  scholars"  (The  Decline, 
vii.,  128).] 

2  [Evelyn  (Diary,  ed.  1872,  i. ,  217),  who  visited  it  in  1645,  described  it  as 
"this  flourishing  and  ancient  University".  Addison  (  Works,  i. ,  385),  nearly 
sixty  years  later,  wrote  of  it :  "  The  university  is  of  late  much  more  regular  than 
it  was  formerly,  though  it  is  not  yet  safe  walking  the  streets  after  sunset ". 
Johnson,  in  his  undergraduate  days,  was  overheard  saying  to  himself:  "Well, 
I  have  a  mind  to  see  what  is  done  in  other  places  of  learning.  I'll  go  and  visit 
the  Universities  abroad.  I'll  go  to  France  and  Italy.  I'll  go  to  Padua. — And 
I'll  mind  my  business.  For  an  Athenian  blockhead  is  the  worst  of  all  block- 
heads" (Boswell's  Johnson,  i. ,  73).] 

3["  Vicenza  is  a  city  .  .  .  full  of  gentlemen  and  splendid  palaces,  to  which 
the  famous  Palladio,  born  here,  has  exceedingly  contributed,  having  been  the 
architect"  (Evelyn's  Diary,  i. ,  227).] 

4  [Milton  in  his  tractate  Of  Education  (Works,  ed.  1806,  i.,  284)  says: 
' '  Nor  shall  we  then  need  the  monsieurs  of  Paris  to  take  our  hopeful  youth  into 
their  slight  and  prodigal  custodies,  and  send  them  over  back  again  transformed 
into  mimics,  apes,  and  kickshows  ". 

Gay's  moral  in  The  Monkey  who  had  seen  the  World  (Fables,  No.  xiv.)  is  : — 
"  Thus  the  dull  lad,  too  tall  for  school, 
With  travel  finishes  the  fool  ". 

Pope,  in  the  Argument  of  the  fourth  Dunciad,  brings  in  "  a  band  of  young 
gentlemen  returned  from  travel  with  their  tutors  ;  one  of  whom  delivers  to  the 
goddess  in  a  polite  oration  an  account  of  the  whole  conduct  and  fruits  of  their 
travels  ;  presenting  to  her  at  the  same  time  a  young  nobleman  perfectly  ac- 
complished. She  receives  him  graciously,  and  indues  him  with  the  happy 
quality  of  want  of  shame." 

Fielding  in  Joseph  Andrews  (bk.  iii. ,  chap,  vii.)  describes  how  the  squire 
"  made  in  three  years  the  tour  of  Europe,  as  they  term  it,  and  returned  home 
well  furnished  with  French  clothes,  phrases  and  servants,  with  a  hearty  con- 
tempt for  his  own  country  ;  especially  what  had  any  savour  of  the  plain  spirit 
and  honesty  of  our  ancestors  ". 


1764-65]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  1(37 

and  indispensable  requisites  of  age,  judgment,  a  competent 
knowledge  of  men  and  books,1  and  a  freedom  from  domestic 
prejudices,  I  will  briefly  describe  the  qualifications  which  I 
deem  most  essential  to  a  traveller.  He  should  be  endowed 
with  an  active,  indefatigable  vigour  of  mind  and  body,  which 
can  seize  every  mode  of  conveyance,  and  support,  with  a 
careless  smile,  every  hardship  of  the  road,  the  weather,  or 
the  inn.  The  benefits  of  foreign  travel  will  correspond  with 
the  degrees  of  these  qualifications 2 ;  but,  in  this  sketch, 
those  to  whom  I  am  known  will  not  accuse  me  of  framing 
my  own  panegyric.  It  was  at  Rome,  on  the  15th  of  October, 
1764,  as  I  sat  musing  amidst  the  ruins  of  the  Capitol,  while 
the  bare-footed  fryars  were  singing  vespers  in  the  Temple  of 
Jupiter,3  that  the  idea  of  writing  the  decline  and  fall  of  the 
city  first  started  to  my  mind.4  But  my  original  plan  was 
circumscribed  to  the  decay  of  the  city  rather  than  of  the 
empire,5  and  though  my  reading  and  reflections  began  to 
point  towards  that  object,  some  years  elapsed,  and  several 
avocations  intervened,  before  I  was  seriously  engaged  in  the 
execution  of  that  laborious  work. 

1  had  not    totally   renounced    the   southern   provinces    of 
France,   but  the   letters  which   I   found   at   Lyons  were  ex- 
Chesterfield  thus  writes  of  young  travellers  :  "  They  set  out  upon  their  travels 

unlicked  cubs  ;  and  in  their  travels  they  only  lick  one  another,  for  they  seldom 
go  into  any  other  company.  .  .  .  They  come  home,  at  three  or  four  and 
twenty,  refined  and  polished  (as  is  said  in  one  of  Congreve's  plays)  like  Dutch 
skippers  from  a  whale-fishing  "  {Letters  to  his  Son,  ed.  1774,  iv. ,  18). 

"A  young  man,"  writes  Adam  Smith,  "commonly  returns  home  more 
conceited,  more  unprincipled,  more  dissipated,  and  more  incapable  of  any 
serious  application,  either  to  study  or  to  business,  than  he  could  well  have  become 
in  so  short  a  time  had  he  lived  at  home  "  ( The  Wealth  of  Nations,  bk.  v. ,  chap.  i. , 
ed.  1811,  iii.,  184.     See  also  ante,  p.  148,  and  Boswell's  John  son,  iii.,  458).] 

!["  Johnson.  As  the  Spanish  proverb  says,  '  He,  who  would  bring  home 
the  wealth  of  the  Indies,  must  carry  the  wealth  of  the  Indies  with  him.'  So  it 
is  in  travelling ;  a  man  must  carry  knowledge  with  him,  if  he  would  bring 
home  knowledge'  "  (Boswell's  Johnson,  iii.,  302).] 

2  [See  Auto.,  p.  269,  for  many  more  "  qualifications  ".] 

:!  ["  The  Church  and  Convent  of  Araceli,  the  bare-foot  friars  of  St.  Francis, 
occupy  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  "  {The  Decline,  vii.,  226).] 

4  [See  Appendix  29.] 

5["  If  I  prosecute  this  History,  I  shall  not  be  unmindful  of  the  decline  and 
fall  of  the  city  of  Rome  ;  an  interesting  object,  to  which  my  plan  was  originally 
confined  "  [The  Decline,  iv.,  20).] 


168  EDWARD  GIBBON  [i76s 

pressive  of  some  impatience.  Rome  and  Italy  had  satiated 
my  curious  appetite,  and  I  was  now  ready  to  return  to  the 
peaceful  retreat  of  my  family  and  books.  After  a  happy 
fortnight  I  reluctantly  left  Paris,  embarked  at  Calais,  again 
landed  at  Dover,  after  an  interval  of  two  years  and  five 
months,  and  hastily  drove  through  the  summer  dust  and 
solitude  of  London.  On  the  25th  of  June,  1765,  I  arrived 
at  my  father's  house  :  and  1  the  five  years  and  a  half  between 
my  ti*avels  and  my  father's  death  (1770)  are  the  portion  of 
my  life  which  I  passed  with  the  least  enjoyment,  and  which 
I  remember  with  the  least  satisfaction.2  Every  spring  I 
attended  the  monthly  meeting  and  exercise  of  the  militia  at 
Southampton ;  and  by  the  resignation  of  my  father,  and  the 
death  of  Sir  Thomas  Worsley,3  I  was  successively  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  major  and  lieutenant-colonel  commandant ;  but  I 
was  each  year  more  disgusted  with  the  inn,  the  wine,  the  com- 
pany,and  the  tiresome  repetition  of  annual  attendance  and  daily 
exercise.  At  home,  the  economy  of  the  family  and  farm  still 
maintained  the  same  creditable  appearance.  My  connection 
with  Mrs.  Gibbon  was  mellowed  into  a  warm  and  solid  attach- 
ment :  my  growing  years  abolished  the  distance  that  might  yet 
remain  between  a  parent  and  a  son,  and  my  behaviour  satisfied 
my  father,  who  was  proud  of  the  success,  however  imperfect 
in  his  own  life-time,  of  my  literary  talents.  Our  solitude 
was  soon  and  often  enlivened  by  the  visit  of  the  friend  of 
my  youth,  Mr.  Deyverdun,4  whose  absence  from  Lausanne  I 
had  sincerely  lamented.  About  three  years  after  my  first 
departure,  he  had  emigrated  from  his  native  lake  to  the 
banks  of  the  Oder  in  Germany.  The  res  angusta  domi,5  the 
waste  of  a  decent  patrimony,  by  an  improvident  father, 
obliged  him,  like  many  of  his  countrymen,  to  confide  in  his 

1  [The  connection  of  the  two  clauses,  which  is  so  imperfect,  was  quite  clear 
in  the  original.  Gibbon  wrote:  "On  the  25th  of  June,  1765,  I  reached  the 
rural  mansion  of  my  parents.  .  .  .  After  my  first  (1758)  and  my  second  return 
to  England  (1765),  the  forms  of  the  pictures  were  nearly  the  same ;  but  the 
colours  had  been  darkened  by  time  ;  and  the  five  years,  etc.  "  [Auto.,  p.  271).] 

2  [He  surely  forgets  his  "  boyish  years  "  (ante,  p.  46).] 
3 [Ante,  p.  136.]  i[Ib.,  p.  86.] 
5 [Juvenal,  Sat.,  iii. ,  165.] 


1765]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  169 

own  industry  ;  and  lie  was  entrusted  with  the  education  of  a 
young  prince,  the  grandson  of  the  Margrave  of  Schavedt, 
of  the  Royal  Family  of  Prussia.  Our  friendship  was  never 
cooled,  our  correspondence  was  sometimes  interrupted  ;  but  I 
rather  wished  than  hoped  to  obtain  Mr.  Deyverdun  for  the 
companion  of  my  Italian  tour.  An  unhappy,  though  honour- 
able, passion  drove  him  from  his  German  court ;  and  the 
attractions  of  hope  and  curiosity  were  fortified  by  the  ex- 
pectation of  my  speedy  return  to  England.  During  four 
successive  summers  he  passed  several  weeks  or  months  at 
Buriton,  and  our  free  conversations,  on  every  topic  that  could 
interest  the  heart  or  understanding,  would  have  reconciled 
me  to  a  desert  or  a  prison.  In  the  winter  months  of  London 
my  sphere  of  knowledge  and  action  was  somewhat  enlarged, 
by  the  many  new  acquaintance  which  I  had  contracted  in  the 
militia  and  abroad ;  and  I  must  regret,  as  more  than  an  ac- 
quaintance, Mr.  Godfrey  Clarke  of  Derbyshire,  an  amiable  and 
worthy  young  man,  who  was  snatched  away  by  an  untimely 
death.1  A  weekly  convivial  meeting  was  established  by 
myself  and  travellers,  under  the  name  of  the  Roman  Club.2 

The  renewal,  or  perhaps  the  improvement,  of  my  English 
life  was  embittered  by  the  alteration  of  my  own  feelings.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-one  I  was,  in  my  proper  station  of  a  youth, 
delivered  from  the  yoke  of  education,  and  delighted  with  the 
comparative  state  of  liberty  and  affluence.  My  filial  obedience 
was  natural  and  easy  ;  and  in  the  gay  prospect  of  futurity,  my 


1  [He  was  one  of  the  members  for  Derbyshire.  He  died  on  Dec.  26,  1774 
(Gent.  Mag.,  1774,  p.  599).  On  Aug.  7,  1773,  Gibbon  wrote  to  Holroyd  : 
"  Boodle's  and  Atwood's  are  now  no  more.  The  last  stragglers,  and  Clarke 
in  the  rear  of  all,  are  moved  away  to  their  several  castles  ;  and  I  now  enjoy 
in  the  midst  of  London  a  delicious  solitude.  My  library,  Kensington  Gardens, 
and  a  few  parties  with  new  acquaintance  who  are  chained  to  London  (among 
whom  I  reckon  Goldsmith  and  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds)  fill  up  my  time  "  (Corres., 
i.,  191).] 

2  The  members  were  Lord  Mountstuart  (now  Marquis  of  Bute),  Colonel 
Edmonstone,  William  Weddal,  Rev.  Mr.  Palgrave,  Earl  of  Berkley,  Godfrey 
Clarke  (Member  for  Derbyshire),  Holroyd  (Lord  Sheffield),  Major  Ridley, 
Thomas  Charles  Bigge,  Sir  William  Guize,  Sir  John  Aubrey,  the  late  Earl  of 
Abingdon,  Hon.  Peregrine  Bertie,  Rev.  Mr.  Cleaver,  Hon.  John  Darner,  Hon. 
George  Damer  (late  Earl  of  Dorchester),  Sir  Thomas  Gascoyne,  Sir  John  Hort, 
E.  Gibbon. — Sheffield. 


170  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1765 

ambition  did  not  extend  beyond  the  enjoyment  of  my  books, 
my  leisure,  and  my  patrimonial  estate,  undisturbed  by  the 
cares  of  a  family  and  the  duties  of  a  profession.  But  in  the 
militia  I  was  armed  with  power ;  in  my  travels,  I  was  exempt 
from  controul ;  and  as  I  approached,  as  I  gradually  passed  my 
thirtieth  year,  I  began  to  feel  the  desire  of  being  master  in 
my  own  house.  The  most  gentle  authority  will  sometimes 
frown  without  reason,  the  most  cheerful  submission  will 
sometimes  murmur  without  cause  ;  and  such  is  the  law  of 
our  imperfect  nature,  that  we  must  either  command  or  obey  ; 
that  our  personal  liberty  is  supported  by  the  obsequiousness 
of  our  own  dependants.  While  so  many  of  my  acquaintance 
were  married  or  in  parliament,  or  advancing  with  a  rapid  step 
in  the  various  roads  of  honour  and  fortune,  I  stood  alone,  im- 
moveable and  insignificant ;  for  after  the  monthly  meeting  of 
1770,1  I  had  even  withdrawn  myself  from  the  militia,  by  the 
resignation  of  an  empty  and  barren  commission.  My  temper 
is  not  susceptible  of  envy,  and  the  view  of  successful  merit 
has  always  excited  my  warmest  applause.  The  miseries  of  a 
vacant  life  were  never  known  to  a  man  whose  hours  were 
insufficient  for  the  inexhaustible  pleasures  of  study.  But  I 
lamented  that  at  the  proper  age  I  had  not  embraced  the 
lucrative  pursuits  of  the  law  -  or  of  trade,  the  chances  of  civil 
office  or  India  adventure,  or  even  the  fat  slumbers  of  the 
church  3  ;  and  my  repentance  became  more  lively  as  the  loss 
of  time  was  more  irretrievable.  Experience  showed  me  the 
use  of  grafting  my  private  consequence  on  the  importance  of  a 
great  professional  body  ;  the  benefits  of  those  firm  connections 
which  are  cemented  by  hope  and  interest,  by  gratitude  and 
emulation,  by  the  mutual  exchange  of  services  and  favours. 
From  the  emoluments  of  a  profession  I  might  have  derived 
an  ample  fortune,  or  a  competent  income,  instead  of  being 


1[Post,  Appendix  24.]  z[Ante,  p.  113.] 

"'[Only  two  or  three  years  before  he  thus  basely  lamented,  he  made  the 
following  entry  in  his  journal  about  an  Italian  author:  "II  se  plaint  a  tout 
moment  de  sa  pauvret£.  II  connait  peu  la  veritable  dignite'  d'un  homme  de 
lettres"  (Misc.   Works,  i.,  192).] 


1765]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  171 

stinted  to  the  same  narrow  allowance,  to  be  increased  only 
by  an  event  which  I  sincerely  deprecated.  The  progress 
and  the  knowledge  of  our  domestic  disorders  aggravated 
my  anxiety,  and  I  began  to  apprehend  that  I  might  be 
left  in  my  old  age  without  the  fruits  either  of  industry  or  in- 
heritance. 

In  the  first  summer  after  my  return,  whilst  I  enjoyed  at 
Buriton  the  society  of  my  friend  Deyverdun,  our  daily  con- 
versations expatiated  over  the  field  of  ancient  and  modei'n 
literature  ;  and  we  freely  discussed  my  studies,  my  first  Essay, 
and  my  future  projects.  The  Decline  and  Fall  of  Rome  I  still 
contemplated  at  an  awful  distance :  but  the  two  historical 
designs  which  had  balanced  my  choice  were  submitted  to  his 
taste  :  and  in  the  parallel  between  the  Revolutions  of  Florence 
and  Switzerland,  our  common  partiality  for  a  country  which 
was  his  by  birth,  and  mine  by  adoption,  inclined  the  scale  in 
favour  of  the  latter.  According  to  the  plan,  which  was  soon 
conceived  and  digested,  I  embraced  a  period  of  two  hundred 
years,  from  the  association  of  the  three  peasants  of  the  Alps 
to  the  plenitude  and  prosperity  of  the  Helvetic  body  in  the 
sixteenth  century.  I  should  have  described  the  deliverance 
and  victory  of  the  Swiss,  who  have  never  shed  the  blood  of 
their  tyrants  but  in  a  field  of  battle  * ;  the  laws  and  manners 
of  the  confederate  states ;  the  splendid  trophies  of  the 
Austrian,  Burgundian,  and  Italian  wars  ;  and  the  wisdom  of 
a  nation,  which,  after  some  sallies  of  martial  adventure,  has 
been  content  to  guard  the  blessings  of  peace  with  the  sword 
of  freedom. 

Manus  haec  inimica  tyrannis 


Ense  petit  placidam  sub  libertate  quietem. 

My  judgment,  as  well  as  my  enthusiasm,  was  satisfied  with 
the  glorious  theme ;  and  the  assistance  of  Deyverdun  seemed 
to  remove  an  insuperable  obstacle.  The  French  or  Latin 
memorials,  of  which  I  was  not  ignorant,  are  inconsiderable  in 

J[As  Gibbon  did  not  believe  in  the  story  of  William  Tell  (Misc.    Works, 
iii.,  265),  he  was  justified  in  passing  over  Gessler's  death.] 


172  EDWAED  GIBBON  [1767 

number  and  weight ;  but  in  the  perfect  acquaintance  of  my 
friend  with  the  German  language,  I  found  the  key  of  a  more 
valuable  collection.  The  most  necessary  books  were  procured  ; 
he  translated  for  my  use,  the  folio  volume  of  Schilling,  a 
copious  and  contemporary  relation  of  the  war  of  Burgundy  ; 
we  read  and  marked  the  most  interesting  parts  of  the  great 
chronicle  of  Tschudi ;  and  by  his  labour,  or  that  of  an  inferior 
assistant,  large  extracts  were  made  from  the  History  of  Lauffer 
and  the  Dictionary  of  Lew :  yet  such  was  the  distance  and 
delay,  that  two  years  elapsed  in  these  preparatory  steps ;  and 
it  was  late  in  the  third  summer  (1767)  before  I  entered,  with 
these  slender  materials,  on  the  more  agreeable  task  of 
composition.  A  specimen  of  my  History,  the  first  book,  was 
read  the  following  winter  in  a  literary  society  of  foreigners  in 
London  ;  and  as  the  author  was  unknown,  I  listened,  without 
observation,  to  the  free  strictures,  and  unfavourable  sentence, 
of  my  judges.1  The  momentary  sensation  was  painful ;  but 
their  condemnation  was  ratified  by  my  cooler  thoughts.  I 
delivered  my  imperfect  sheets  to  the  flames,2  and  for  ever 
renounced  a  design  in  which  some  expense,  much  labour,  and 
more  time  had  been  so  vainly  consumed.  I  cannot  regret 
the  loss  of  a  slight  and  superficial  essay,  for  such  the  work 
must  have  been  in  the  hands  of  a  stranger,  uninformed  by 
the  scholars  and  statesmen,  and  remote  from  the  libraries  and 
archives  of  the  Swiss  republics.  My  ancient  habits,  and  the 
presence  of  Deyverdun,  encouraged  me  to  write  in  French 
for  the  continent  of  Europe  ;  but  I  was  conscious  myself  that 
my  style,  above  prose  and  below  poetry,  degenerated  into 
a  verbose  and  turgid  declamation.  Perhaps  I  may  impute 
the  failure  to  the  injudicious  choice  of  a  foreign  language. 
Perhaps  I  may  suspect  that  the  language  itself  is  ill  adapted 

1  [See  Appendix  30.] 

2  He  neglected  to  burn  them.  He  left  at  Sheffield- Place  the  introduction, 
or  first  book,  in  forty-three  pages  folio,  written  in  a  very  small  hand,  besides  a 
considerable  number  of  notes.  Mr.  Hume's  opinion,  expressed  in  the  letter 
in  the  last  note  [Appendix  30],  perhaps  may  justify  the  publication  of  it. — 
Sheffield. 

[The  Introduction  d  V Histoire  Ginirale  de  la  Rt'publique  des  Stiisses  fills 
ninety  pages  of  vol.  iii.  of  Gibbon's  Misc.  Works.} 


1767]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  173 

to  sustain  the  vigour  and  dignity  of  an  important  narrative. 
But  if  France,  so  rich  in  literary  merit,  had  produced  a  great 
original  historian,  his  genius  would  have  formed  and  fixed  the 
idiom  to  the  proper  tone,  the  peculiar  mode  of  historical 
eloquence. 

It  was  in  search  of  some  liberal  and  lucrative  employment 
that  my  friend  Deyverdun  had  visited  England.  His  remit- 
tances from  home  were  scanty  and  precarious.  My  purse  was 
always  open,  but  it  was  often  empty  ;  and  I  bitterly  felt  the 
want  of  riches  and  power,  which  might  have  enabled  me  to 
correct  the  errors  of  his  fortune.  His  wishes  and  qualifica- 
tions solicited  ,the  station  of  the  travelling  governor  of  some 
wealthy  pupil ;  but  every  vacancy  provoked  so  many  eager 
candidates,  that  for  a  long  time  I  struggled  without  success  ; 
nor  was  it  till  after  much  application  that  I  could  even  place 
him  as  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State.  In 
a  residence  of  several  years  he  never  acquired  the  just 
pronunciation  and  familiar  use  of  the  English  tongue,  but 
he  read  our  most  difficult  authors  with  ease  and  taste  :  his 
critical  knowledge  of  our  language  and  poetry  was  such  as 
few  foreigners  have  possessed  ;  and  few  of  our  countrymen 
could  enjoy  the  theatre  of  Shakspeare  and  Garrick  with 
more  exquisite  feeling  and  discernment.  The  consciousness 
of  his  own  strength,  and  the  assurance  of  my  aid,  emboldened 
him  to  imitate  the  example  of  Dr.  Maty,  whose  Journal 
Britannique 1  was  esteemed  and  regretted  ;  and  to  improve 
his  model,  by  uniting  with  the  transactions  of  literature  a 
philosophic  view  of  the  arts  and  manners  of  the  British 
nation.  Our  Journal  for  the  year  1767,  under  the  title  of 
Memoires  Litieraires  de  la  Grande  Brelagne,  was  soon  finished, 
and  sent  to  the  press.2  For  the  first  article,  Lord  Lyttelton's 
History  of  Henry  II.,  I  must  own  myself  responsible  ;  but  the 
public  has  ratified  my  judgment  of  that  voluminous  work,  in 


1  [Ante,  p.   124.] 

2  [It  was  published  in  1768.     For  an  interesting  letter  by  Gibbon  about  the 
first  number  see  Misc.   Works,  ii.,  68.] 


174  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1767 

which  sense  and  learning  are  not  illuminated  by  a  ray  of 
genius.1  The  next  specimen  was  the  choice  of  my  friend, 
The  Bath  Guide,  a  light  and  whimsical  performance,  of  local, 
and  even  verbal,  pleasantry.2  I  started  at  the  attempt :  he 
smiled  at  my  fears  :  his  courage  was  justified  by  success  ;  and 
a  master  of  both  languages  will  applaud  the  curious  felicity 
with  which  he  has  transfused  into  French  prose  the  spirit, 
and  even  the  humour,  of  the  English  verse.3     It  is  not  my 

1  [Gibbon,  after  praising  "deux  grands  hommes,"  Robertson  and  Hume, 
continues:  "Nous  ne  prodiguerons  jamais  a  la  grandeur  la  recompense  des 
talens  :  Mylord  L.  ne  doit  point  prtitendre  a  la  gloire  de  ces  hommes  de  genie, 
mais  il  lui  reste  les  qualites  d'un  bon  citoyen,  d'un  savant  tres-eclaire\  d'un  ecri- 
vain  exact  et  impartial,  et  c'est  avec  plaisir  que  nous  les  lui  accordons  "  (P.  29). 

On  July  14,  1767,  Hume  wrote  to  Adam  Smith  :  "  Have  you  read  Lord 
Lyttelton  ?  Do  you  not  admire  his  Whiggery  and  his  Piety  ;  qualities  so  useful 
both  for  this  world  and  the  next  ?  "  {Hume  A'ISS.  in  the  Royal  Society  of  Edin- 
burgh). 

"  Boswell.  '  I  rather  think,  Sir,  that  Toryism  prevails  in  this  reign.'  John- 
son. '  I  know  not  why  you  should  think  so,  Sir.  You  see  your  friend  Lord 
Lyttelton,  a  nobleman,  is  obliged  in  his  History  to  write  the  most  vulgar 
Whiggism  '  "  (BoswelYs  Johnson,  ii.,  221). 

Johnson,  in  his  Life  of  Lyttelton,  describes  how  this  History  "  was  published 
with  such  anxiety  as  only  vanity  can  dictate"  (Johnson's  Works,  viii. ,  492).] 

2  [The  New  Bath  Guide,  by  Christopher  Anstey,  is  in  the  list  of  books  in  the 
Gent.  Mag.  for  May,  1766,  p.  241.  Horace  Walpole  wrote  on  June  20  {Letters, 
iv. ,  504) :  "  It  stole  into  the  world,  and  for  a  fortnight  no  soul  looked  into  it, 
concluding  its  name  was  its  true  name.  No  such  thing.  It  is  a  set  of  letters  in 
verse,  in  all  kinds  of  verses,  describing  the  life  at  Bath,  and  incidentally  every- 
thing else  ;  but  so  much  wit,  so  much  humour,  fun  and  poetry,  so  much 
originality,  never  met  together  before.  Then  the  man  has  a  better  ear  than 
Dryden  or  Handel.  ...  I  can  say  it  by  heart,  though  a  quarto,  and  if  I  had 
time  would  write  it  you  down  ;  for  it  is  not  yet  reprinted,  and  not  one  to  be 
had." 

Gray  wrote  on  Aug.  26  :  "  Have  you  read  The  New  Bath  Guide  ?  it  is  the 
only  thing  in  fashion,  and  is  a  new  and  original  kind  of  humour  "  (Mitford's 
Gray's  Works,  iv. ,  84). 

According  to  Cary  (Lives  of  the  Poets,  p.  184),  after  the  second  edition  was 
published  the  author  sold  the  copyright  to  Dodsley  for  ^200.] 

3  [The  following  is  a  specimen  of  the  verses  and  the  translation.  The  hero 
describes  a  consultation  of  doctors  over  his  case  (Letter  iv.)  : — 

"  Good  doctor,  I'm  yours — 'tis  a  fine  day  for  walking — 

Sad  news  in  the  papers — God  knows  who's  to  blame  ! 

The  colonies  seem  to  be  all  in  a  flame — 

This  stamp  act,  no  doubt,  might  be  good  for  the  crown, 

But  I  fear  'tis  a  pill  that  will  never  go  down — 

What  can  Portugal  mean  ?  is  she  going  to  stir  up 

Convulsions  and  heats  in  the  bowels  of  Europe  ? 

'Twill  be  fatal  if  England  relapses  again, 

From  the  ill  blood  and  humours  of  Europe  and  Spain." 

"  Bon  jour,  mon  cher  Docteur. — Le  beau  temps  pour  la  promenade. — II  y  a 
de  bien  mauvaises  nouvelles  dans  les  papiers — Dieu  sait  a  qui  il  faut  s'en  prendre. — 
Les  colonies  paraissent  toutes  dans  une  inflammation.     Cet  Acte  du  Timbre 


1768-69]      MEMOIRS   OF  MY  LIFE  175 

wish  to  deny  how  deeply  I  was  interested  in  these  Memoirs, 
of  which  I  need  not  surely  be  ashamed  ;  but  at  the  distance 
of  more  than  twenty  years,  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to 
ascertain  the  respective  shares  of  the  two  associates.  A  long 
and  intimate  communication  of  ideas  had  cast  our  sentiments 
and  style  in  the  same  mould.  In  our  social  labours  we  com- 
posed and  corrected  by  turns  ;  and  the  praise  which  I  might 
honestly  bestow,  would  fall  perhaps  on  some  article  or  passage 
most  properly  my  own.  A  second  volume  (for  the  year  1768) 
was  published  of  these  Memoirs.1  I  will  presume  to  say, 
that  their  merit  was  superior  to  their  reputation  ;  but  it  is 
not  less  true,  that  they  were  productive  of  more  reputation 
than  emolument.  They  introduced  my  friend  to  the  protec- 
tion, and  myself  to  the  acquaintance,  of  the  Earl  of  Chester- 
field, whose  age  and  infirmities  secluded  him  from  the 
world,2  and  of  Mr.  David  Hume,  who  was  under-secretary  to 
the  office  in  which  Deyverdun  was  more  humbly  employed.3 
The    former   accepted   a    dedication    (April    12,    1769),    and 

pent  etre  bon,  sans  doute,  pour  la  Cour,  mais  je  crains  qu'on  ne  puisse  jamais 
leur  faire  avaler  la  pillule.— Que  fait  le  Portugal  ?— Excitera-t-il  une  fermentation 
dans  les  entrailles  de  l'Europe  ?— L'Angleterre  est  a  la  veille  d'une  rechute  fatale  : 
gare  les  mauvaises  humeurs  du  sang  des  Bourbons  "  (P.  33).] 

1  [This  volume  is  not  in  the  British  Museum.  Lowndes  (ed.  1871,  p.  886) 
records  the  sale  of  both  vols,  for  £4  19s.  and  £6  16s.  6d.  Messrs.  H.  Sotheran 
&  Co.  believe  that  no  copy  has  ever  passed  through  their  hands.] 

2  [On  Dec.  25,  1767,  Chesterfield  wrote  :  "  I  have  no  actual  illness  nor  pain 
to  complain  of,  but  I  am  as  lame  of  my  legs  as  when  you  saw  me,  and  must 
expect  to  be  so  for  the  rest  of  my  life  "  (Chesterfield's  Misc.  Works,  ed.  1779, 
iv. ,  316).  On  March  12,  1768,  he  wrote:  "My  deafness  deprives  me  of  the 
only  rational  pleasure  that  I  can  have  at  my  age,  which  is  society  ;  so  that  I 
read  my  eyes  out  every  day,  that  I  may  not  hang  myself"  (Letters  to  his  Son, 
iv. ,  272).  One  is  surprised  to  find  him  two  years  later,  cut  off  as  he  was  from 
society  and  in  his  seventy-sixth  year,  ordering  "four  dozen  of  shirts"  (Misc. 

Works,  iv. ,  328).] 

;i  [In  February,  1767,  Hume  was  appointed  Under-Secretary  of  State  by 
the  Secretary  of  State,  General  Conway.  By  Conway's  resignation  in  the 
following  January  he  lost  his  office  (Hume's  Letters  to  Strahan,  pp.  103,  115). 
On  Dec.  2,  1766,  Hume  wrote  to  the  Countess  de  Bouffiers  :  "  A  few  posts  ago 
I  received  a  very  curious  letter  from  a  Swiss  gentleman  who  resides  in  London, 
but  whom  I  never  either  saw  or  heard  of  before  ;  his  name  is  Deyverdun,  and 
he  calls  himself  a  native  of  Lausanne.  He  says  that  he  was  extremely  surprised 
to  find  that  Rousseau  had  accused  me  of  being  the  author  or  accomplice  of  two 
libels  wrote  against  him.  .  .  .  Now  the  Swiss  gentleman  tells  me  that  he  him- 
self was  the  author  of  them,  and  gives  me  leave  to  publish  his  letter  for  that 
purpose  to  the  whole  world  "  (Private  Corres.  of  Hume,  p.  230).  For  Rousseau's 
attack  on  Hume  see  Hume's  Letters  to  Strahan,  pp.  74-103.] 


176  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1769 

reserved  the  author  for  the  future  education  of  his  successor  l  : 
the  latter  enriched  the  Journal  with  a  reply  to  Mr.  Walpole's 
Historical  Doubts,  which  he  afterwards  shaped  into  the  form 
of  a  note.2  The  materials  of  the  third  volume  were  almost 
completed,  when  I  recommended  Deyverdun  as  governor  to 
Sir  Richard  Worsley,  a  youth,  the  son  of  my  old  Lieutenant- 
colonel,  who  was   lately   deceased.3     They   set   forwards   on 

1  [His  cousin,  who  in  March,  1773,  succeeded  him  as  fifth  earl,  was  at  this 
time  under  the  tuition  of  Dr.  Dodd,  who,  eight  years  later,  was  hanged  for 
forging  the  young  man's  name.  In  1772  the  youth  was  at  Leipsig  with  Deyver- 
dun as  his  tutor  (Chesterfield's  Misc.  Works,  iv. ,  208-9).  On  Sept.  10,  1773, 
Gibbon  wrote  to  Holroyd  :  "  I  forgot  to  tell  you  that  I  have  declined  the 
publication  of  Lord  Chesterfield's  Letters.  The  public  will  see  them,  and  upon 
the  whole  I  think  with  pleasure ;  but  the  whole  family  were  strongly  bent 
against  it ;  and,  especially  on  Deyverdun's  account,  I  deemed  it  more  prudent 
to  avoid  making  them  my  personal  enemies"  (Corres.,  i. ,  195).  For  the  opposi- 
tion of  the  family  to  the  publication  see  my  introduction  to  Eighteenth  Century 
Letters  {Johnson  and  Chesterfield) ,  1898. 

On  April  2,  1774,  Gibbon  wrote  that  "  Deyverdun  had  been  forced  to  quit 
Lord  C,  by  the  little  peer's  strange  behaviour,"  etc.  {Corres.,  i.,  210).] 

2  [More  than  half  the  article  is  by  Gibbon,  who  thus  concludes  :  "  Les  argu- 
mens  de  M.  Walpole  nous  avaient  (5bloui  sans  nous  convaincre.  Les  reflexions 
suivantes  nous  ont  ramen6  au  sentiment  general ;  elles  sont  de  M.  Hume,  qui 
nous  les  a  communiquees  avec  la  permission  d'en  enrichir  nos  Memoires  "  {Misc. 

Works,  iii.,  341). 

The  "note"  is  given  in  Hume's  History,  ed.  1773,  iii.,  454.  "Nothing," 
writes  Hume  of  Walpole  (id.,  p.  460),  "  can  be  a  stronger  proof  how  ingenious 
and  agreeable  that  gentleman's  pen  is,  than  his  being  able  to  make  an  enquiry 
concerning  a  remote  point  of  English  antiquities  an  object  of  general  conversa- 
tion.    The  foregoing  note  has  been  enlarged  on  account  of  that  performance." 

Walpole  recorded  in  his  Short  Notes  of  my  Life  {Letters,  Preface,  p.  75), 
under  date  of  May,  1769  :  "  Mr.  David  Hume  had  introduced  to  me  one  Diver- 
dun  [sic],  a  Swiss  in  the  Secretary's  office.  This  man  wrote  Mimoires  LitUraires 
de  la  Grande  Bretagne ;  and  Mr.  Hume  desired  I  would  give  him  a  copy  of 
Lord  Herbert's  Life,  that  he  might  insert  an  extract  in  his  Journal.  I  did.  .  .  . 
In  this  new  Journal  [Mimoires,  1768]  I  found  a  criticism  on  my  Historic  Doubts, 
with  notes  by  Mr.  Hume,  to  which  the  critic  declared  he  gave  the  preference. 
Mr.  Hume  had  shown  me  the  notes  last  year  in  manuscript,  but  this  conduct 
appeared  so  paltry,  added  to  Mr.  Hume's  total  silence,  that  I  immediately  wrote 
an  answer,  not  only  to  these  notes,  but  to  other  things  that  had  been  written 
against  my  Doubts.  However,  as  I  treated  Mr.  Hume  with  the  severity  he 
deserved,  I  resolved  not  to  print  this  answer,  only  to  show  it  to  him  in  manu- 
script, and  to  leave  it  behind  as  an  appendix  to,  and  confirmation  of,  my 
Historic  Doubts. ' '  ] 

3  [Ante,  p.  168.  Gibbon  wrote  on  March  21,  1772  :  "  Sir  Richard  Worsley  is 
just  come  home.  I  am  sorry  to  see  many  alterations,  and  little  improvement. 
From  an  honest  wild  English  buck,  he  is  grown  a. philosopher.  Lord  Petersfield 
displeases  everybody  by  the  affectation  of  consequence ;  the  young  baronet 
disgusts  no  less  by  the  affectation  of  wisdom.  He  speaks  in  short  sentences, 
quotes  Montaigne,  seldom  smiles,  never  laughs,  drinks  only  water,  professes  to 
command  his  passions,  and  intends  to  marry  in  five  months"  (Corres.,  i. ,  153). 

By  "Lord  Petersfield"  Gibbon  meant  William   Jolliffe,  the  Lord  of  the 
Manor  (see  ib,,  i.,  171).] 


1770]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  177 

their  travels  ;  nor  did  they  return  to  England  till  some  time 
after  my  father's  death. 

My  next  publication  was  an  accidental  sally  of  love  and 
resentment ;  of  my  reverence  for  modest  genius,  and  my 
aversion  for  insolent  pedantry.  The  sixth  book  of  the  .Eneid 
is  the  most  pleasing  and  perfect  composition  of  Latin  poetry. 
The  descent  of  iEneas  and  the  Sibyl  to  the  infernal  regions, 
to  the  world  of  spirits,  expands  an  awful  and  boundless 
prospect,  from  the  nocturnal  gloom  of  the  Cumaean  grot, 

Ibant  obscuri  sola  sub  nocte  per  umbram,1 

to  the  meridian  brightness  of  the  Elysian  fields ; 

Largior  hie  campos  aether  et  lumine  vestit 
Purpureo  2 

from  the  dreams  of  simple  Nature,  to  the  dreams,  alas  !  of 
Egyptian  theology,  and  the  philosophy  of  the  Greeks.  But 
the  final  dismission  of  the  hero  through  the  ivory  gate,  whence 

Falsa  ad  ccelum  mittunt  insomnia  manes,3 

seems  to  dissolve  the  whole  enchantment,  and  leaves  the 
reader  in  a  state  of  cold  and  anxious  scepticism.  This  most 
lame  and  impotent  conclusion  has  been  variously  imputed  to 
the  taste  or  irreligion  of  Virgil ;  but,  according  to  the  more 
elaborate  interpretation  of  Bishop  Warburton,  the  descent  to 
hell  is  not  a  false,  but  a  mimic  scene  ;  which  represents  the 
initiation  of  iEneas,  in  the  character  of  a  lawgiver,  to  the 
Eleusinian  mysteries.  This  hypothesis,  a  singular  chapter  in 
the  Divine  Legation  of  Moses,4  had  been  admitted  by  many 

1  [^2?ieid,  vi. ,  268. 

"  Obscure  they  went  through  dreary  shades,  that  led 
Along  the  waste  dominions  of  the  dead." 

(Dryden.)] 
^[sEneid,  vi. ,  640. 

' '  The  verdant  fields  with  those  of  heaven  may  vie, 
With  ether  vested,  and  a  purple  sky." 

(Dryden.)] 
'd\_sE?ieid,  vi.,  896. 

"Through  polished  ivory  pass  deluding  lies." 

(Dryden.)] 
■•[Book  ii.,  sect.  4.] 

12 


178  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1770 

as  true ;  it  was  praised  by  all  as  ingenious ;  nor  had  it  been 
exposed,  in  a  space  of  thirty  years,  to  a  fair  and  critical 
discussion.  The  learning  and  the  abilities  of  the  author  had 
raised  him  to  a  just  eminence ;  but  he  reigned  the  dictator 
and  tyrant  of  the  world  of  literature.1  The  real  merit  of 
Warburton  was  degraded  by  the  pride  and  presumption  with 
which  he  pronounced  his  infallible  decrees ;  in  his  polemic 
writings  he  lashed  his  antagonists  without  mercy  or  modera- 
tion ;  and  his  servile  flatterers  (see  the  base  and  malignant 
Essay  on  the  Delicacy  of  Friendship2),  exalting  the  master  critic 
far  above  Aristotle  and  Longinus,3  assaulted  every  modest 
dissenter  who  refused  to  consult  the  oracle,  and  to  adore  the 
idol.4     In  a  land  of  liberty,  such  despotism  must  provoke  a 


1["The  state  of  authorship,"  wrote  Warburton,  "whatever  that  of  nature 
may  be,  is  certainly  a  state  of  war ' '  (Remarks  on  Several  Occasional  Reflections, 
ed.  1744,  p.  3).  Pope  had  said  before  him  :  "  The  life  of  a  wit  is  a  warfare  upon 
earth"  (Warton's  Pope's  Works,  ed.  1822,  i. ,  63). 

"  When  I  read  Warburton  first  (said  Johnson)  and  observed  his  force,  and 
his  contempt  of  mankind,  I  thought  he  had  driven  the  world  before  him  ;  but  I 
soon  found  that  was  not  the  case ;  for  Warburton,  by  extending  his  abuse, 
rendered  it  ineffectual"  (BoswelY s  /ohnson,  v.,  93). 

Gibbon,  after  quoting  from  Procopius  an  obscene  anecdote  of  Theodora, 
says  :  "I  have  heard  that  a  learned  prelate,  now  deceased,  was  fond  of  quoting 
this  passage  in  conversation  "  ( The  Decline,  iv. ,  213).  I  suspect  that  Warburton 
is  meant  from  the  close  juxtaposition  of  the  following  note  on  p.  215  :  "  '  Let 
greatness  own  her,  and  she's  mean  no  more,'  etc.  Without  Warburton's 
critical  telescope  I  should  never  have  seen  in  the  general  picture  of  triumphant 
vice  any  personal  allusion  to  Theodora."  Warburton's  note  is  given  in 
his  edition  of  Pope's  Works,  iv. ,  309.] 

2  [By  Richard  Hurd,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Worcester.  Published  anony- 
mously in  1755.  It  became  scarce  and  would  have  remained  forgotten,  had  not 
Parr  reprinted  it  in  1789,  from  a  MS.  copy  which,  when  he  was  a  schoolmaster, 
he  had  set  two  of  his  boys  to  make  (Johnstone's  Parr's  Works,  i.,  291).  See 
id.,  p.  307,  for  the  explanation  of  Parr's  enmity,  and  Boswell's  Johnson,  iv.,  47. 
Gibbon  charges  Hurd  with  "the  assassination  of  Jortin"  in  this  book  (Auto., 
p.  304).  For  Jortin  see  Johnson's  Letters,  ii.,  276,  and  Pattison's  Essays,  ii.,  131. 
Gibbon  had  at  Lausanne  engravings  both  of  Warburton  and  Hurd  (Read's 
Hist.  Studies,  ii. ,  479). 

In  a  copy  of  The  Letters  from  a  Late  Eminent  Prelate  to  o?ie  of  his  Friends 
[Warburton  to  Hurd]  Macaulay  wrote  at  the  head  of  the  first  letter,  "  Bully  to 
Sneak"  (Trevelyan's  Macaulay,  ed.  1877,  ii. ,  469).] 

'•''  [Gibbon  refers  to  the  dedication  of  Hurd's  edition  of  Horace's  Epistle  to 
Augustus.  He  quotes  the  passage  in  his  Critical  Observations  (Misc.  Works, 
iv.,  509).] 

4  [Hume  wrote  in  1771 :  "Warburton  and  all  his  gang,  the  most  scurrilous, 
arrogant  and  impudent  fellows  in  the  world,  have  been  abusing  me  in  their 
usual  style  these  twenty  years"  (Letters  to  Strahan,  p.  200).  In  his  Autobiography 
Hume  says:   "Dr.   Hurd  wrote  a  pamphlet  against  my  Natural  History  of 


1770]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  179 

general  opposition,  and  the  zeal  of  opposition  is  seldom 
candid  or  impartial.  A  late  professor  of  Oxford  (Dr.  Lowth), 
in  a  pointed  and  polished  epistle  (August  31,  1765),  defended 
himself,  and  attacked  the  Bishop ;  and,  whatsoever  might  be 
the  merits  of  an  insignificant  controversy,  his  victory  was 
clearly  established  by  the  silent  confusion  of  Warburton  and 
his  slaves.1  /  too,  without  any  private  offence,  was  ambitious 
of  breaking  a  lance  against  the  giant's  shield ;  and  in  the 
beginning  of  the  year  1770,  my  Critical  Observations  on  the 
Sixth  Book  of  the  TEneid  were  sent,  without  my  name,  to  the 
press.2  In  this  short  Essay,  my  first  English  publication,  I 
aimed  my  strokes  against  the  person  and  the  hypothesis  of 
Bishop  Warburton.  I  proved,  at  least  to  my  own  satisfaction, 
that  the  ancient  lawgivers  did  not  invent  the  mysteries,  and 
that  iEneas  was  never  invested  with  the  office  of  lawgiver  ;  3 
that  there  is  not  any  argument,  any  circumstance,  which  can 
melt  a  fable  into  allegory,  or  remove  the  scene  from  the  Lake 
Avernus  to  the  Temple  of  Ceres  :  that  such  a  wild  supposition 
is  equally  injurious  to  the  poet  and  the  man  :  that  if  Virgil 
was  not  initiated  he  could  not,  if  he  were,  he  would  not, 
reveal  the  secrets  of  the  initiation :  that  the  anathema  of 
Horace  (yetabo  qui  Cereiis  sacrum  vulgarit,  etc.)  at  once  attests 
his  own  ignorance  and  the  innocence  of  his  friend.4  As  the 
Bishop  of  Gloucester  and  his  party  maintained  a  discreet 
silence,  my  critical  disquisition  was  soon  lost  among  the 
pamphlets   of  the  day ;   but   the   public   coldness   was  over- 

Religion  with  all  the  illiberal  petulance,  arrogance  and  scurrility  which  distin- 
guish the  Warburtonian  school"  {ib.,  preface,  p.  28). 

' '  The  secret  intentions  of  Julian  are  revealed  by  the  late  Bishop  of  Gloucester, 
the  learned  and  dogmatic  Warburton  ;  who,  with  the  authority  of  a  theologian, 
prescribes  the  motives  and  conduct  of  the  Supreme  Being.  The  discourse 
entitled  Julian  is  strongly  marked  with  all  the  peculiarities  which  are  imputed 
to  the  Warburtonian  school  "  {The  Decline,  ii.,  457).] 

l[Ante,  p.  49.  "His  Majesty  then  talked  of  the  controversy  between 
Warburton  and  Lowth,  which  he  seemed  to  have  read,  and  asked  Johnson 
what  he  thought  of  it.  Johnson  answered,  "Warburton  has  most  general, 
most  scholastick  learning  ;  Lowth  is  the  more  correct  scholar.  I  do  not  know 
which  of  them  calls  names  best  "  (Boswell's  Johnson,  ii.,  37).] 

2  [Misc.  Works,  iv.,  467.] 

"  {lb. ,  iv. ,  479,  484.]  * [See  Appendix  31.] 


180  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1770 

balanced  to  my  feelings  by  tbe  weighty  approbation  of  the 
last  and  best  editor  of  Virgil,  Professor  Heyne  of  Gottingen, 
who  acquiesces  in  my  confutation,  and  styles  the  unknown 
author,  doctus  .  .  .  et  eleganUssimus  Britannus?-  But  I  cannot 
resist  the  temptation  of  transcribing  the  favourable  judgment 
of  Mr.  Hayley,  himself  a  poet  and  a  scholar  :  "  An  intricate 
hypothesis,  twisted  into  a  long  and  laboured  chain  of  quota- 
tion and  argument,  the  Dissertation  on  the  Sixth  Book  of 
Virgil,  remained  some  time  unrefuted.  ...  At  length,  a 
superior,  but  anonymous  critic  arose,  who,  in  one  of  the  most 
judicious  and  spirited  essays  that  our  nation  has  produced,  on 
a  point  of  classical  literature,  completely  overturned  this  ill- 
founded  edifice,  and  exposed  the  arrogance  and  futility  of  its 
assuming  architect."  2  He  even  condescends  to  justify  an 
acrimony  of  style,  which  had  been  gently  blamed  by  the  more 
unbiassed  German  ;  "  Paullo  acrius  quam  velis  .  .  .  perstrinxit.3" 
But  I  cannot  forgive  myself  the  contemptuous  treatment  of  a 
man  who,  with  all  his  faults,  was  entitled  to  my  esteem 4  ; 

1  [In  Heyne's  Virgil,  Leipsic,  1787,  ii. ,  804,  the  unknown  author  is  styled 
"  vir  doctus,"  and  p.  821,  11.,  "  elegantissimus  Britannus".] 

2 [Hayley's  Poetical  Works,  ed.  1785,  ii.,  112.] 

aThe  editor  of  the  Warburtonian  Tracts,  Dr.  Parr  (p.  192),  considers  the 
allegorical  interpretation  "as  completely  refuted  in  a  most  clear,  elegant  and 
decisive  work  of  criticism  ;  which  could  not,  indeed,  derive  authority  from  the 
greatest  name ;  but  to  which  the  greatest  name  might  with  propriety  have  been 
affixed.— Gibbon. 

[Parr  added  in  a  note  that  "this  book  is  ascribed,  and  I  think  with  great 
probability,"  to  Gibbon  (Parr's  Works,  iii.,  417).  For  the  Warburtonian 
Tracts  see  Boswell's  Johnson,  iv. ,  47. 

Hayley,  after  quoting  Heyne's  remark,  continues:  "But  what  lover  of 
poetry,  unbiassed  by  personal  connection,  can  speak  of  Warburton  without 
some  marks  of  indignation?  ...  He  has  sullied  the  page  of  every  poet  whom 
he  pretended  to  illustrate,  and  frequently  degraded  the  generous  profession  of 
criticism  into  a  mean  instrument  of  personal  malignity  "  (ii.,  p.  116). 

Gray  records  Warburton's  "contemptuous  treatment"  of  Richard  Terrick, 
who  was  made  Bishop  of  London  in  1764.  "  Now  I  am  talking  of  Bishops," 
Gray  wrote,  "  I  must  tell  you  that  not  long  ago  Bishop  Warburton,  in  a  sermon 
at  Court,  asserted  that  all  preferments  were  bestowed  on  the  most  illiterate  and 
worthless  objects,  and  in  speaking  turned  himself  about,  and  stared  directly  at 
the  Bishop  of  London  ;  he  added,  that  if  any  one  arose  distinguished  for  merit 
and  learning,  there  was  a  combination  of  dunces  to  keep  him  down.  I  need 
not  tell  you  that  he  expected  the  Bishopric  of  London  himself  when  Terrick  got 
it  "  (Mitford's  Gray's  Works,  iv.,  49).] 

4 The  Divine  Legation  of  Moses  is  a  monument,  already  crumbling  in  the 
dust,  of  the  vigour  and  weakness  of  the  human  mind.  If  Warburton's  new 
argument  proved  anything,  it  would  be  a  demonstration  against  the  legislator, 


1770-72]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  181 

and  I  can  less  forgive,  in  a  personal  attack,  the  cowardly 
concealment  of  my  name  and  character. 

In  the  fifteen  years  between  my  Essay  on  the  Study  of 
Literature  and  the  first  volume  of  the  Decline  and  Fall 
(I7()l-I77b'),  this  criticism  on  Warburton,  and  some  articles 
in  the  Journal,  were  my  sole  publications.  It  is  more 
especially  incumbent  on  me  to  mark  the  employment,  or 
to  confess  the  waste  of  time,  from  my  travels  to  my  father's 
death,  an  interval  in  which  I  was  not  diverted  by  any  pro- 
fessional duties  from  the  labours  and  pleasures  of  a  studious 
life.  1.  As  soon  as  I  was  released  from  the  fruitless  task  of 
the  Swiss  revolutions  (1768),  I  began  gradually  to  advance 
from  the  wish  to  the  hope,  from  the  hope  to  the  design,  from 
the  design  to  the  execution,  of  my  historical  work,  of  whose 
limits  and  extent  I  had  yet  a  very  inadequate  notion.  The 
Classics,  as  low  as  Tacitus,  the  younger  Pliny,  and  Juvenal, 
were  my  old  and  familiar  companions.  I  insensibly  plunged 
into  the  ocean  of  the  Augustan  history  ;  and  in  the  descend- 
ing series  I  investigated,  with  my  pen  almost  always  in  my 
hand,  the  original  records,  both  Greek  and  Latin,  from  Dion 
Cassius  to  Ammianus  Marcellinus,1  from  the  reign  of  Ti'ajan 

who  left  his  people  without  the  knowledge  of  a  future  state.  But  some  episodes 
of  the  work,  on  the  Greek  philosophy,  the  hieroglyphics  of  Egypt,  etc.,  are 
entitled  to  the  praise  of  learning,  imagination,  and  discernment. — Gibbon. 

[Warburton's  "  new  argument  "  is  thus  summed  up  by  its  author  :  "  Having 
proved  my  three  principal  propositions, 

I.  '  That  the  inculcating  the  doctrine  of  a  future  state  of  rewards  and 
punishments  is  necessary  to  the  well-being  of  society.' 

II.  '  That  all  mankind,  especially  the  most  wise  and  learned  nations  of 
antiquity,  have  concurred  in  believing  and  teaching  that  this  doctrine  was  of 
such  use  to  civil  society.' 

III.  '  That  the  doctrine  of  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  punishments  is  not  to 
be  found  in,  nor  did  make  part  of  the  Mosaic  Dispensation.' 

The  conclusion  is  that  therefore  The  Law  of  Moses  is  of  Divine 
Origin"  (The  Divine  Legation >.,  ed.  1765,  v.,  403). 

In  Mr.  Murray's  ed.  of  the  Auto.,  p.  283,  the  above  note  and  note  3  on  p.  180 
are  assigned  to  Lord  Sheffield.     That  they  are  Gibbon's  is  shown  id.,  p.  305.] 

1  [Gibbon  thus  mentions  him  in  The  Decline,  iii. ,  122,  under  the  date  of  A.D. 
379-382  :  "It  is  not  without  the  most  sincere  regret  that  I  must  now  take  leave 
of  an  accurate  and  faithful  guide,  who  has  composed  the  history  of  his  own  times 
without  indulging  the  prejudices  and  passions  which  usually  affect  the  mind  of  a 
contemporary  ". 

"  Mr.  Gibbon  shows,  it  is  true,  so  strong  a  dislike  to  Christianity  as  visibly 
disqualifies  him  for  that  society  of  which  he  has  created  Ammianus  Marcellinus 
president "  (Porson's  Letters  to  Travis,  ed.  1790,  Preface,  p.  28).] 


182  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1770-72 

to  the  last  age  of  the  Western  Caesars.  The  subsidiary  rays  of 
medals,  and  inscriptions  of  geography  and  chronology,  were 
thrown  on  their  proper  objects  l ;  and  I  applied  the  collections 
of  Tillemont,  whose  inimitable  accuracy  almost  assumes  the 
character  of  genius,2  to  fix  and  arrange  within  my  reach  the 
loose  and  scattered  atoms  of  historical  information.  Through 
the  darkness  of  the  middle  ages  I  explored  my  way  in  the 
Annals  and  Antiquities  of  Italy  of  the  learned  Muratori  3  ; 
and  diligently  compared  them  with  the  parallel  or  transverse 
lines  of  Sigonius  and  MafFei,4  Baronius  and  Pagi,5  till  I  almost 
grasped  the  ruins  of  Rome  in  the  fourteenth  century,6  without 
suspecting  that  this  final  chapter  must  be  attained  by  the 
labour  of  six  quartos  and  twenty  years.  Among  the  books 
which  I  purchased,  the  Theodosian  Code,  with  the  commentary 
of  James  Godefroy,7  must  be  gratefully  remembered.     I  used 

1  [Ante,  p.  160.] 

2  [Post,  p.  232.  Gibbon  does  not  always  speak  of  him  so  respectfully. 
"  Tillemont  endeavours  to  pick  his  way.  The  patient  and  sure-footed  mule  of 
the  Alps  may  be  trusted  in  the  most  slippery  paths"  (The  Decline,  iii.,  48). 
"  Tillemont  has  raked  together  all  the  dirt  of  the  Fathers  ;  an  useful  scavenger  !  " 
(ib.,  iii.,  153).] 

3  [Muratori,  early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  "  reformed  the  ducal  library  of 
Modena.  The  name  of  Muratori  will  be  for  ever  connected  with  the  literature 
of  his  country.  .  .  .  His  numerous  writings  .  .  .  are  impressed  with  sense  and 
knowledge,  with  moderation  and  candour  ;  he  moved  in  the  narrow  circle  of  an 
Italian  priest  ;  but  a  desire  of  freedom,  a  ray  of  philosophic  light  sometimes 
breaks  through  his  own  prejudices  and  those  of  his  readers.  .  .  .  He  will  not 
aspire  to  the  fame  of  historical  genius  ;  his  modesty  may  be  content  with  the  solid, 
though  humble  praise  of  an  impartial  critic  and  indefatigable  compiler  "  (Misc. 
Works,  iii.,  365-7).      In   The  Decline  (vii. ,  300)  Gibbon  speaks  of  him  as  "  my 

guide  and  master  in  the  history  of  Italy  ".] 

4["  EvenSigoniustoofreelycopied  the  classic  method  of  supplying  from  reason 
or  fancy  the  deficiency  of  records"  (ib.,  vii.,  224).  For  the  Marquis  Maffei's 
Verona  Illustrata  see  ib.,  p.  316.] 

5  [.  hife,  p.  68,  ;/.  "  Baronius  is  copious  and  florid,  but  he  is  accused  of  placing 
the  lies  of  different  ages  on  the  same  level  of  authenticity"  (The  Decline,  iii., 
389).  "  Father  Pagi,  to  whom  good  letters  have  many  obligations,  shows  (in 
his  Dissertatio  Hypatica,   p.   368)  that  he  read  history  like  a  monk"  (Misc. 

Works,  v.,  574).     For  their  "  angry  growl  "  see  The  Decline,  iv. ,  195.] 

6  [The  last  chapter  of  The  Decline,  opens  with  the  "  Prospect  of  the  Ruins 
of  Rome  in  the  Fifteenth  Century  ".  "  In  the  last  days  of  Pope  Eugenius  IV. 
[a.d.  1430]  two  of  his  servants,  the  learned  Poggius  and  a  friend,  ascended 
the  Capitoline  Hill  ;  reposed  themselves  among  the  ruins  of  columns  and 
temples  ;  and  viewed  from  that  commanding  spot  the  wide  and  various  prospect 
of  desolation."] 

"["  His  mind  was  balanced  by  the  opposite  prejudices  of  a  Civilian  and  a 
Protestant"  (The  Decline,  ii. ,  319).] 


1770-72]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  183 

it  (and  much  I  used  it)  as  a  work  of  history,  rather  than  of 
jurisprudence  :  but  in  every  light  it  may  be  considered  as  a 
full  and  capacious  repository  of  the  political  state  of  the 
empire  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries.  As  I  believed,  and 
as  I  still  believe,  that  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel,  and  the 
triumph  of  the  church,  are  inseparably  connected  with  the 
decline  of  the  Roman  monarchy,1  I  weighed  the  causes  and 
effects  of  the  revolution,  and  contrasted  the  narratives  and 
apologies  of  the  Christians  themselves,  with  the  glances  of 
candour  or  enmity  which  the  Pagans  have  cast  on  the  rising 
sects.2  The  Jewish  and  Heathen  testimonies,  as  they  are 
collected  and  illustrated  by  Dr.  Lardner,3  directed,  without 
superseding,  my  search  of  the  originals  ;  and  in  an  ample 
dissertation  on  the  miraculous  darkness  of  the  passion,  I 
privately  drew  my  conclusions  from  the  silence  of  an  un- 
believing age.4      I  have  assembled  the  preparatory   studies, 

1  ["  As  the  happiness  of  a  future  life  is  the  great  object  of  religion,  we  may- 
hear  without  surprise  or  scandal  that  the  introduction,  or  at  least  the  abuse,  of 
Christianity,  had  some  influence  on  the  decline  and  fall  of  the  Roman  empire. 
The  clergy  successfully  preached  the  doctrines  of  patience  and  pusillanimity  ; 
the  active  virtues  of  society  were  discouraged  ;  and  the  last  remains  of  military 
spirit  were  buried  in  the  cloister,"  etc.  (The  Decline,  iv.,  162).  "  The  monks 
were  more  expensive  and  more  numerous  than  the  soldiers  of  the  East"  (ib. , 
iv. ,  341).  "The  disputes  of  the  Trinity  were  succeeded  by  those  of  the 
Incarnation,  alike  scandalous  to  the  Church,  alike  pernicious  to  the  State  " 
[ib. ,  v. ,  96).  ' '  The  verbal  disputes  of  the  Oriental  sects  have  shaken  the  pillars 
of  the  Church  and  State"  [ib.,  v.,  106).  "The  religion  of  the  Greeks  could 
only  teach  them  to  suffer  and  to  yield"  [id.,  vi. ,  95).  "  The  schism  of  Con- 
stantinople, by  alienating  her  most  useful  allies,  and  provoking  her  most 
dangerous  enemies,  has  precipitated  the  decline  and  fall  of  the  Roman  empire 
in  the  East  "  (ib. ,  vi. ,  366).  "  I  have  described  the  triumph  of  barbarism  and 
religion"  (ib.,  vii.,  308).] 

2  [For  Gibbon's  admiration  of  "  the  incomparable  pliancy  of  a  Polytheist " 
see  The  Decline,  iii. ,  31.] 

3  [Nathaniel  Lardner,  D.D. ,  1688-1768.  "  The  scandalous  calumnies  of 
Augustine,  Pope  Leo,  etc.,  which  Tillemont  swallows  like  a  child,  and  Lardner 
refutes  like  a  man,"  etc.  ( The  Decline,  iii. ,  154).] 

4["  Under  the  reign  of  Tiberius  the  whole  earth,  or  at  least  a  celebrated 
province  of  the  Roman  empire,  was  involved  in  a  prseternatural  darkness 
of  three  hours.  Even  this  miraculous  event,  which  ought  to  have  excited  the 
wonder,  the  curiosity,  and  the  devotion  of  mankind,  passed  without  notice  in  an 
age  of  science  and  history.  It  happened  during  the  lifetime  of  Seneca  and  the 
elder  Pliny,  who  must  have  experienced  the  immediate  effects,  or  received  the 
earliest  intelligence  of  the  prodigy.  Each  of  these  philosophers,  in  a  laborious 
work,  has  recorded  all  the  great  phenomena  of  Nature,  earthquakes,  meteors, 
comets,  and  eclipses  which  his  indefatigable  curiosity  could  collect.  Both  the 
one  and  the  other  have  omitted  to  mention  the  greatest  phenomenon  to  which 
the  mortal  eye  has  been  witness  since  the  creation  of  the  globe  "  (ib. ,  ii.(  70).] 


184  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1770-72 

directly  or  indirectly  relative  to  my  history  ;  but,  in  strict 
equity,  they  must  be  spread  beyond  this  period  of  my  life,  over 
the  two  summers  (1771  and  1772)  that  elapsed  between  my 
father's  death  and  my  settlement  in  London.  2.  In  a  free 
conversation  with  books  and  men,  it  would  be  endless  to 
enumerate  the  names  and  characters  of  all  who  are  introduced 
to  our  acquaintance  ;  but  in  this  general  acquaintance  we  may 
select  the  degrees  of  friendship  and  esteem.  According  to 
the  wise  maxim,  Multum  legere  potius  quam  multa,  I  reviewed, 
again  and  again,  the  immortal  works  of  the  French  and 
English,  the  Latin  and  Italian  classics.  My  Greek  studies 
(though  less  assiduous  than  I  designed)  maintained  and 
extended  my  knowledge  of  that  incomparable  idiom.  Homer 
and  Xenophon  l  were  still  my  favourite  authors  ;  and  I  had 
almost  prepared  for  the  press  an  Essay  on  the  Cyropoedia, 
which,  in  my  own  judgment,  is  not  unhappily  laboured. 
After  a  certain  age,  the  new  publications  of  merit  are  the 
sole  food  of  the  many  ;  and  the  most  austere  student  will  be 
often  tempted  to  break  the  line,  for  the  sake  of  indulging  his 
own  curiosity,  and  of  providing  the  topics  of  fashionable  cur- 
rency. A  more  respectable  motive  may  be  assigned  for  the 
third  perusal  of  Blackstone's  Commentaries,  and  a  copious 
and  critical  abstract  of  that  English  work  was  my  first  serious 
production  in  my  native  language.2  3.  My  literary  leisure 
was  much  less  complete  and  independent  than  it  might 
appear  to  the  eye  of  a  stranger.  In  the  hurry  of  London 
I  was  destitute  of  books  ;  in  the  solitude  of  Hampshire  I  was 
not  master  of  my  time.  My  quiet  was  gradually  disturbed 
by  our  domestic  anxiety,  and  I  should  be  ashamed  of  my 
unfeeling   philosophy,   had  I  found  much  time  or  taste  for 


l[Ante,  p.  92.  Gibbon's  praise  of  Herodotus  is  comical  enough.  "He 
has  erected  an  elegant  trophy  to  his  own  fame  and  to  that  of  his  country  "  (ib., 
»•-  145)-] 

2  [In  his  Remarks  on  Blackstone  s  Commentaries  Gibbon  says  (evidently  in 
reference  to  the  second  section  of  the  Introduction)  :  "I  have  entirely  omitted 
a  metaphysical  inquiry  upon  the  nature  of  laws  in  general,  eternal  and  positive 
laws,  and  a  number  of  sublime  terms,  which  I  admire  as  much  as  I  can  without 
understanding  them  "  {Misc.  Works,  v.,  546).] 


1770-72]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  185 

study  in  the  last  fatal  summer  (1770)  of  my  father's  decay 
and  dissolution. 

The  disembodying  of  the  militia  at  the  close  of  the  war 
(176'3)  had  restored  the  Major  (a  new  Cincinnatus)  to  a  life  of 
agriculture.  His  labours  were  useful,  his  pleasures  innocent, 
his  wishes  moderate  ;  and  my  father  seemed  to  enjoy  the  state 
of  happiness  which  is  celebrated  by  poets  and  philosophers, 
as  the  most  agreeable  to  nature,  and  the  least  accessible  to 
fortune. 

Beatus  ille,  qui  procul  negotiis 
(Ut  prisca  gens  mortalium) 
Paterna  rura  bubus  exercet  suis, 
Solutus  omni  fcenore.1 

But  the  last  indispensable  condition,  the  freedom  from  debt, 
was  wanting  to  my  father's  felicity  ;  and  the  vanities  of  his 
youth  were  severely  punished  by  the  solicitude  and  sorrow  of 
his  declining  age.  The  first  mortgage,  on  my  return  from 
Lausanne  (1758),  had  afforded  him  a  partial  and  transient 
relief.'2  The  annual  demand  of  interest  and  allowance  was  a 
heavy  deduction  from  his  income  ;  the  militia  was  a  source  of 
expence,  the  farm  in  his  hands  was  not  a  profitable  adventure, 
he  was  loaded  with  the  costs  and  damages  of  an  obsolete  law- 
suit ;  and  each  year  multiplied  the  number,  and  exhausted 
the  patience,  of  his  creditors.  Under  these  painful  cii'cum- 
stances,  I  consented  to  an  additional  mortgage,3  to  the  sale  of 
Putney,4  and  to  every   sacrifice  that  could  alleviate  his  dis- 

1  [Horace,  Epod.,  ii. ,  i. 

"  Like  the  first  mortals,  blest  is  he 
From  debts,  and  usury,  and  business  free, 
With  his  own  team  who  ploughs  the  soil, 
Which  grateful  once  confessed  his  father's  toil." 

(Francis.)] 

2  [It  was  a  mortgage  of  _£io,ooo,  raised  on  an  entailed  estate  ;  his  son  con- 
senting to  break  the  entail,  and  the  father,  in  return,  settling  on  him  an  annuity 
for  life  of  £300  [Auto.,  pp.  155,  243,  399;  Corres.,  i.,  69).  What  Gibbon 
thought  of  entails  he  shows  in  his  chapter  on  Roman  Law.  "  The  simplicity  of 
the  civil  law  was  never  clouded  by  the  long  and  intricate  entails  which  confine 
the  happiness  and  freedom  of  unborn  generations  "  (The  Decline,  iv.,  491).] 

y[It  must  have  been  one  of  £7,000,  as  the  total  of  the  mortgages  left  by  his 
lather  was  ^17,000  (Atito.,  p.  290).] 

4[It  was  sold  for  ,£8,500  {Corres.,  i.,  105,  107,  and  Misc.   Works,  i.,  19,  ».).] 


186  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1770-72 

tress.  But  he  was  no  longer  capable  of  a  rational  effort,  and 
his  reluctant  delays  postponed  not  the  evils  themselves,  but 
the  remedies  of  those  evils  [remedia  malorum  potius  quam  mala 
differebai).1  The  pangs  of  shame,  tenderness,  and  self- 
reproach,  incessantly  preyed  on  his  vitals  ;  his  constitution 
was  broken  ;  he  lost  his  strength  and  his  sight ;  the  rapid 
progress  of  a  dropsy  admonished  him  of  his  end,  and  he  sunk 
into  the  grave  on  the  tenth  of  November,  1770,'2  in  the  sixty- 
fourth  year  of  his  age.  A  family  tradition  insinuates  that 
Mr.  William  Law  had  drawn  his  pupil  in  the  light  and 
inconstant  character  of  Flatus?  who  is  ever  confident,  and 
ever  disappointed  in  the  chace  of  happiness.  But  these 
constitutional  failings  were  happily  compensated  by  the 
virtues  of  the  head  and  heart,  by  the  warmest  sentiments 
of  honour  and  humanity.  His  graceful  person,  polite  address, 
gentle  manners,  and  unaffected  cheerfulness,  recommended 
him  to  the  favour  of  every  company  4  ;  and  in  the  change  of 
times  and  opinions,  his  liberal  spirit  had  long  since  delivered 
him  from  the  zeal  and  prejudice  of  a  Tory  education.  I 
submitted  to  the  order  of  Nature  ;  and  my  grief  was  soothed 
by  the  conscious  satisfaction  that  I  had  discharged  all  the 
duties  of  filial  piety.5 

As  soon  as  I  had  paid  the  last  solemn  duties  to  my  father, 

1  ["  Remedia  potius  malorum  quam  mala  differebat "  (Tacitus,  Hist., 
iii.,  54). 

To  his  step-mother  he  wrote  on  Jan.  21,  1769  :  "  For  God's  sake,  for  all  our 
sakes,  press  my  father  to  recollect  everything,  to  look  out  everything,  and  to 
send  us  everything  that  he  can.  All  our  difficulties  proceed  from  former  care- 
lessness" (Corres.,  i. ,  97).] 

2  [It  was  on  Nov.  12  his  father  died  (see  Corres.,  i.,  117,  122).] 

a  [A  Serious  Call,  ch.  xii.  Gibbon's  father  was  Law's  pupil  when  the  book 
was  published.  The  chapter  may  have  been  written  as  a  warning  to  him  ;  but 
it  is  impossible  to  believe  that  his  character  was  drawn.] 

4  \Anle,  p.  115.] 

5  [Gibbon  wrote  to  Holroyd  on  April  29,  1767,  when  his  father  "  was  taken 
dangerously  ill"  :  "  I  can  assure  you,  my  dear  Holroyd,  that  the  same  event 
appears  in  a  very  different  light  when  the  danger  is  serious  and  immediate  ;  or 
when,  in  the  gaiety  of  a  tavern  dinner,  we  affect  an  insensibility  that  would  do 
us  no  great  honour  were  it  real  "  ( Corres. ,  i.,  86).  On  April  13,  1774,  he  wrote  of 
a  friend  who  had  lost  his  father  :  "Incredible  as  it  sounds  to  the  generality  of  sons, 
and  as  it  ought  to  sound  to  most  fathers,  he  considered  the  old  gentleman  as  a 
friend"  (id.,  i. ,  211).] 


1773]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  187 

and  obtained,  from  time  and  reason,  a  tolerable  composure  of 
mind,  I  began  to  form  the  plan  of  an  independent  life,  most 
adapted  to  my  circumstances  and  inclination.  Yet  so  intricate 
was  the  net,  my  efforts  were  so  awkward  and  feeble,  that 
nearly  two  years  (November,  1770— October,  1772)  were 
suffered  to  elapse  before  I  could  disentangle  myself  from  the 
management  of  the  farm,1  and  transfer  my  residence  from 
Buriton  to  a  house  in  London.2  During  this  interval  I  con- 
tinued to  divide  my  year  between  town  and  the  country ;  but 
my  new  situation  was  brightened  by  hope  ;  my  stay  in  London 
was  prolonged  into  the  summer ;  and  the  uniformity  of  the 
summer  was  occasionally  broken  by  visits  and  excursions  at  a 
distance  from  home.  The  gratification  of  my  desires  (they 
were  not  immoderate  3)  has  been  seldom  disappointed  by  the 
want  of  money  or  credit ;  my  pride  was  never  insulted  by  the 
visit  of  an  importunate  tradesman  ;  and  any  transient  anxiety 
for  the  past  or  future  has  been  dispelled  by  the  studious  or 
social  occupation  of  the  present  hour.  My  conscience  does 
not  accuse  me  of  any  act  of  extravagance  or  injustice,  and  the 
remnant  of  my  estate  affords  an  ample  and  honourable  pro- 
vision for  my  declining  age.  I  shall  not  expatiate  on  my 
economical  affairs,4  which  cannot  be  instructive  or  amusing  to 

1  [Seventeen  years  later,  when  he  was  trying  to  sell  the  estate,  he  wrote  : 
"What  is  the  difficulty  of  the  title?  Will  men  of  sense,  in  a  sensible  country, 
never  get  rid  of  the  tyranny  of  lawyers  ?  more  oppressive  and  ridiculous  than 
even  the  old  yoke  of  the  clergy"  (ib.,  ii. ,  200).] 

2  [Gibbon  wrote  to  Holroyd  from  Buriton  in  1772  :  "lam  just  arrived,  as 
well  as  yourself,  at  my  dii  penates,  but  with  very  different  intention.  You  will 
ever  remain  a  bigot  to  those  rustic  deities  ;  I  propose  to  abjure  them  soon,  and 
to  reconcile  myself  to  the  Catholic  Church  of  London.  ...  I  am  so  happy,  so 
exquisitely  happy,  at  feeling  so  many  mountains  taken  off  my  shoulders  that  I 
can  brave  your  indignation,  and  even  the  three-forked  lightning  of  Jupiter  him- 
self "  (Corres. ,  i.,  155,  165). 

On  Feb.  11,  1773,  he  wrote  to  his  step-mother  "from  my  own  house 
in  Bentinck  Street  [No.  7]"  {ib.,  i.,  179).  On  May  24,  1774,  he  wrote  to 
Holroyd:  "  Never  pretend  to  allure  me,  by  painting  in  odious  colours  the  dust 
of  London.  I  love  the  dust,  and  whenever  I  move  into  the  Wold,  it  is  to  visit 
you  and  My  lady,  and  not  your  Trees"  {ib.,  i.,  218).] 

S["A  rational  voluptuary  adheres  with  invariable  respect  to  the  temperate 
dictates  of  nature,  and  improves  the  gratifications  of  sense  by  social  intercourse, 
endearing  connections,  and  the  soft  colouring  of  taste  and  imagination"  {The 
Decline,  i.,  146).] 

4 [For  a  long  passage  in  which  he  had  "expatiated"  see  Auto.,  pp.  289-291. 
At  the  end  of  it  he  consoles  himself  by  the  reflection  that  his  "  patrimony  had 
been  diminished  in  the  enjoyment  of  life".] 


188  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1773 

the  reader.  It  is  a  rule  of  prudence,  as  well  as  of  politeness, 
to  reserve  such  confidence  for  the  ear  of  a  private  friend, 
without  exposing  our  situation  to  the  envy  or  pity  of  strangers  ; 
for  envy  is  productive  of  hatred,  and  pity  borders  too  nearly 
on  contempt.  Yet  I  may  believe,  and  even  assert,  that  in 
circumstances  more  indigent  or  more  wealthy,  I  should  never 
have  accomplished  the  task,  or  acquired  the  fame,  of  an 
historian ;  that  my  spirit  would  have  been  broken  by  poverty 
and  contempt,  and  that  my  industry  might  have  been  relaxed 
in  the  labour  and  luxury  of  a  superfluous  fortune.1 

I  had  now  attained  the  first  of  earthly  blessings,  indepen- 
dence.2 I  was  the  absolute  master  of  my  hours  and  actions  : 
nor  was  I  deceived  in  the  hope  that  the  establishment  of  my 
library  in  town  would  allow  me  to  divide  the  day  between 
study  and  society.  Each  year  the  circle  of  my  acquaintance, 
the  number  of  my  dead  and  living  companions,  was  enlarged. 
To  a  lover  of  books,  the  shops  and  sales  of  London  present 
irresistible  temptations  ;  and  the  manufacture  of  my  History 
required  a   various   and  growing   stock   of  materials.3      The 

1  [See post,  p.  243,  for  "  the  golden  mediocrity  of  my  fortune".] 

2  [See  Auto. ,  p.  306,  for  a  curious  omission  in  the  text,  where  Gibbon  describes 
"  the  solid  comforts  of  life,"  and  adds  :  "  These  advantages  were  crowned  by 
the  first,"  etc. 

On  May  8,  1762,  he  recorded  in  his  journal :  "  I  can  command  all  the  con- 
veniences of  life,  and  I  can  command  too  that  independence  (that  first  earthly 
blessing)  which  is  hardly  to  be  met  with  in  a  higher  or  lower  fortune  "  {Misc. 
Works,  i.,  147).] 

;; [Gibbon  wrote  in  1779  :  "The  greatest  city  in  the  world  is  still  destitute  of 
a  public  library  ;  and  the  writer  who  has  undertaken  to  treat  any  large  historical 
subject  is  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  purchasing,  for  his  private  use,  a  numerous 
and  valuable  collection  of  the  books  which  must  form  the  basis  of  his  work  " 
(Misc.    Works,  iv.,  591). 

In  1792,  writing  about  "  the  future  fate"  of  his  library,  he  said  :  "If  indeed 
a  true  liberal  public  library  existed  in  London,  I  might  be  tempted  to  enrich 
the  catalogue"  (Corres.,  ii.,  301). 

Johnson  used  to  read  in  the  library  at  the  Queen's  House  (Boswell's  Johnson, 
»•,  33)- 

,  So  early  as  1758  rules  had  been  drawn  up  for  the  British  Museum  Library 
(Gent.  Mag.,  1758,  p.  629).  It  was  increased  in  1763  by  30,000  books  and  tracts 
of  the  Civil  Wars  presented  by  the  King  {ii.,  1763,  p.  576).  The  restrictions 
imposed  by  the  rules  and  by  the  officials  were  great. 

Froude,  writing  of  the  year  1834,  says  :  "In  the  British  Museum  lay  con- 
cealed somewhere  'a  collection  of  French  pamphlets'  on  the  Revolution,  the 
completest  in  the  world,  which,  after  six  weeks'  wrestle  with  officiality,  Carlyle 
was  obliged  to  find  'inaccessible'  to  him"  (Froude's  Carlyle  (i7Qi;-i8«).  ed. 
1882,  ii.,  450).]  J         /yi      M" 


1773]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  189 

militia,  my  travels,  the  House  of  Commons,  the  fame  of  an 
author,  contributed  to  multiply  my  connections  :  I  was  chosen 
a  member  of  the  fashionable  clubs  ;  and,  before  I  left  Eng- 
land in  1783,  there  were  few  persons  of  any  eminence  in  the 
literary  or  political  world  to  whom  I  was  a  stranger.1  It 
would  most  assuredly  be  in  my  power  to  amuse  the  reader 
with  a  gallery  of  portraits  and  a  collection  of  anecdotes.  But 
I  have  always  condemned  the  practice  of  transforming  a 
private  memorial  into  a  vehicle  of  satire  or  praise.  By  my 
own  choice  I  passed  in  town  the  greatest  part  of  the  year  ; 
but  whenever  I  was  desirous  of  breathing  the  air  of  the 
country,  I  possessed  an  hospitable  retreat  at  Sheffield-place 
in  Sussex,  in  the  family  of  my  valuable  friend  Mr.  Holroyd, 
whose  character,  under  the  name  of  Lord  Sheffield,  has  since 
been  more  conspicuous  to  the  public.2 

No  sooner  was  I  settled  in  my  house  and  library,  than  I 
undertook  the  composition  of  the  first  volume  of  my  History. 
At  the  outset  all  was  dark  and  doubtful ;  even  the  title  of  the 
work,3  the  true  sera  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Empire, 
the  limits  of  the  introduction,  the  division  of  the  chapters, 
and  the  order  of  the  narrative  ;  and  I  was  often  tempted  to 
cast  away  the  labour  of  seven  years.     The  style  of  an  author 

1  [See  Appendix  32.] 

2  [A  view  of  Sheffield  Place  is  given  in  vol.  i.  of  Gibbon's  Misc.  Works,  and 
a  portrait  of  Lord  Sheffield  in  The  Girlhood  of  M.  J.  Holroyd,  p.  112.  On 
Nov.  27,  1780,  Gibbon  wrote  "to  Mrs.  Holroyd  announcing  that  Colonel 
Holroyd  was  created  Lord  Sheffield":  "Mr.  Gibbon  presents  his  respectful 
compliments  to  Lady  Sheffield,  and  hopes  her  Ladyship  is  in  perfect  health,  as 
well  as  the  Honble.  Miss  Holroyd,  and  the  Honble.  Miss  Louisa  Holroyd. 
Mr.  Gibbon  has  not  had  the  honour  of  hearing  from  Lord  Sheffield  since  his 
Lordship  reached  Coventry,  but  supposes  that  the  Election  begins  this  day. 
Be  honest.  How  does  this  read  ?  Do  you  not  feel  some  titillations  of  vanity  ?  " 
(Corres. ,  i. ,  392.) 

As  Lord  Sheffield's  was  an  Irish  peerage  he  could  still  sit  in  the  House  of 
Commons  for  any  place  in  Great  Britain.  ] 

:i[In  The  Decline,  iii. ,  268,  he  mentions  "a  rough  draught  of  the  present 
History  made  as  early  as  1771 ".  The  first  mention  of  it  in  his  letters  is  on 
Sept.  10,  1773,  where  he  speaks  of  "the  prosecution  of  my  great  work" 
{Corres.,  i.,  194).  A  year  later  he  wrote  of  a  journey  to  Bath:  "  It  will  most 
wonderfully  delay  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire"  (16.,  p.  230).  On  June  7, 
1775,  he  mentions  the  full  title  in  a  letter  to  his  step-mother:  "I  am  just  at 
present  engaged  in  a  great  Historical  Work,  no  less  than  a  History  of  the 
Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.  .  .  .  During  some  years  it  has  been 
in  my  thoughts  and  even  under  my  pen"  [id.,  p.  259).] 


190  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1778 

should  be  the  image  of  his  mind,  but  the  choice  and  com- 
mand of  language  is  the  fruit  of  exercise.1  Many  experiments 
were  made  before  I  could  hit  the  middle  tone  between  a  dull 
chronicle  and  a  rhetorical  declamation :  three  times  did  I 
compose  the  first  chapter,  and  twice  the  second  and  third, 
before  I  was  tolerably  satisfied  with  their  effect.2  In  the 
remainder  of  the  way  I  advanced  with  a  more  equal  and 
easy  pace  ;  but  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  chapters  have 
been  reduced  by  three  successive  revisals,  from  a  large  volume 
to  their  present  size ;  and  they  might  still  be  compressed, 
without  any  loss  of  facts  or  sentiments.3  An  opposite  fault 
may  be  imputed  to  the  concise  and  superficial  narrative  of 
the  first  reigns  from  Commodus  to  Alexander ;  a  fault  of 
which  I  have  never  heard,  except  from  Mr.  Hume  in  his  last 
journey  to  London.4  Such  an  oracle  might  have  been  con- 
sulted and   obeyed   with  rational  devotion ;    but  I  was  soon 

1[Ante,  p.  i.] 

2  [As  to  Gibbon's  style,  much  as  he  sometimes  admired  it,  R.  P.  [Richard 
Porson]  was  wont  to  remark  ' '  that  it  would  be  a  good  exercise  for  a  schoolboy 
to  translate  occasionally  a  page  of  Gibbon  into  English"  (Porson's  Tracts, 
Preface,  p.  46).  "In  endeavouring  to  avoid  vulgar  terms  he  too  frequently 
dignifies  trifles,  and  clothes  common  thoughts  in  a  splendid  dress  that  would  be 
rich  enough  for  the  noblest  ideas.  .  .  .  Sometimes  in  his  anxiety  to  vary  his 
phrase  he  becomes  obscure.  .  .  .  Sometimes  in  his  attempts  at  elegance  he  loses 
sight  of  English,  and  sometimes  of  sense"  (Porson's  Letters  to  Travis,  Preface, 
pp.  28-30). 

Burke,  in  a  letter  quoted  in  Dugald  Stewart's  Life  of  Robertson,  ed.  1811,  p. 
370,  probably  having  Gibbon  mainly  in  view,  criticises  "  a  style  which,"  he 
says,  "  daily  gains  ground  amongst  us.  .  .  .  The  tendency  of  the  mode  is  to 
establish  two  very  different  idioms  amongst  us,  and  to  introduce  a  marked  dis- 
tinction between  the  English  that  is  written  and  the  English  that  is  spoken.  .  .  . 
From  this  feigned  manner  of  falsetto,  as  I  think  the  musicians  call  something  of 
the  same  sort  in  singing,  no  one  modern  historian,  Robertson  only  excepted,  is 
perfectly  free.  It  is  assumed,  I  know,  to  give  dignity  and  variety  to  the  style. 
But  whatever  success  the  attempt  may  sometimes  have,  it  is  always  obtained  at 
the  expense  of  purity,  and  of  the  graces  that  are  natural  and  appropriate  to  our 
language."  Stewart  goes  on  to  say :  "  I  can  much  more  easily  reconcile  my- 
self, in  a  grave  and  dignified  argument,  to  the  dulcia  vitia  of  Tacitus  and 
Gibbon  than  to  that  affectation  of  cant  words  and  allusions  which  so  often 
debases  Mr.  Burke's  eloquence." 

See  also  Landor's  I  mag.  Conv.,  ed.  C.  G.  Crump,  iii.,  273,  and  Landor's 
Works,  ed.  1876,  viii.,  300,  for  Gibbon's  style.] 

:i  [See  Corres.,  i.,  264.] 

4  [Hume,  who  died  on  Aug.  25,  1776,  arrived  in  London  from  Edinburgh  on 
May  1.  He  was  on  his  way  to  Bath,  in  the  vain  hope  of  finding  relief  there 
from  the  illness  under  which  he  was  sinking  {Letters  of  Hume  to  Strahan, 
p.  321).] 


1774]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  191 

disgusted  with  the  modest  practice  of  reading  the  manuscript 
to  my  friends.  Of  such  friends  some  will  praise  from  polite- 
ness, and  some  will  criticise  from  vanity.  The  author  himself 
is  the  best  j  udge  of  his  own  performance  l ;  no  one  has  so 
deeply  meditated  on  the  subject ;  no  one  is  so  sincerely  in- 
terested in  the  event. 

By  the  friendship  of  Mr.  (now  Lord)  Eliot,  who  had 
married  my  first  cousin,'-  I  was  returned  at  the  general  elec- 
tion for  the  borough  of  Liskeard.3  I  took  my  seat  at  the 
beginning  of  the  memorable  contest  between  Great  Britain 
and  America,  and  supported  with  many  a  sincere  and  silent 
vote,  the  rights,  though  not,  perhaps,  the  interest,  of  the 
mother  country.4  After  a  fleeting  illusive  hope,  prudence 
condemned  me  to  acquiesce  in  the  humble  station  of  a  mute.5 
I  was  not  armed  by  Nature  and  education  with  the  intrepid 
energy  of  mind  and  voice, 

Vincentem  strepitus,  et  natum  rebus  agendis.6 

Timidity  was  fortified  by  pride,  and  even  the  success  of  my 

1  ["  As  to  the  friendly  critic,"  Gibbon  wrote,  "it  is  very  difficult  to  find  one 
who  has  leisure,  candour,  freedom  and  knowledge  sufficient.  After  all,  the 
public  is  the  best  critic  "  ((Torres.,  i. ,  265). 

"  'Tis  a  question  variously  disputed  whether  an  author  may  be  allowed  as  a 
competent  judge  of  his  own  works.  As  to  the  fabric  and  contrivance  of  them 
certainly  he  may ;  for  that  is  properly  the  employment  of  the  judgment.  .  .  . 
But  for  the  ornament  of  writing  .  .  .  as  it  is  properly  the  child  of  fancy,  so  it 
can  receive  no  measure,  or  at  least  but  a  very  imperfect  one,  of  its  own  excellence 
or  failures  from  the  judgment"  (Dryden's  Works,  ed.  1882,  ii. ,  418). 

See  ante,  p.  124.] 

'l\Ante,  p.  21.]  3  [See  Appendix  33.]  4[/^.,  34-] 

"[On  Feb.  25,  1775,  he  wrote:  "I  am  still  a  mute;  it  is  more  tremendous 
than  I  imagined ;  the  great  speakers  fill  me  with  despair,  the  bad  ones  with 
terror"  (Corres.,  i. ,  251).  So  early  as  1760  he  wrote  to  his  father  :  "  I  never 
possessed  that  gift  of  speech,  the  first  requisite  of  an  orator,  which  use  and 
labour  may  improve,  but  which  Nature  alone  can  bestow.  .  .  .  An  unexpected 
objection  would  disconcert  me ;  and  as  I  am  incapable  of  explaining  to  others 
what  I  do  not  thoroughly  understand  myself,  I  should  be  meditating  while  I 
ought  to  be  answering"  (Misc.   Works,  ii. ,  39). 

See  The  Quarterly  Review,  No.  100,  p.  282,  for  Milman's  criticism  of  Ville- 
main,  "  who  traces  in  Gibbon's  mute  and  unambitious  parliamentary  career  the 
'coldness  of  his  temperament,'  and  his  '  deadness  to  all  lofty  and  generous 
emotions '  ".] 

6 [Horace,  Ars  Poet.,  1.  82  :— 

' '  Their  numerous  cadence  was  for  action  fit. 
And  form'd  to  quell  the  clamours  of  the  pit." 

(Francis. )] 


192  EDWAKD  GIBBON  [1775-76 

pen  discouraged  the  trial  of  my  voice.1  But  I  assisted 2 
at  the  debates  of  a  free  assembly  ;  I  listened  to  the  attack 
and  defence  of  eloquence  and  reason  ;  I  had  a  near  prospect 
of  the  characters,  views,  and  passions  of  the  fhst  men  of  the 
age.  The  cause  of  government  was  ably  vindicated  by  Lord 
North,  a  statesman  of  spotless  integrity,3  a  consummate  master 
of  debate,  who  could  wield,  with  equal  dexterity,  the  arms  of 
reason  and  ridicule.  He  was  seated  on  the  Treasury-bench 
between  his  Attorney  and  Solicitor  General,  the  two  pillars 
of  the  law  and  state,4  magis  pares  quam  similes 5 ;  and  the 
minister  might  indulge  in  a  short  slumber,6  whilst  he  was 
upholden  on  either  hand  by  the  majestic  sense  of  Thurlotv,7 

1 A  French  sketch  of  Mr.  Gibbon's  life,  written  by  himself,  probably  for  the 
use  of  some  foreign  journalist  or  translator,  contains  no  fact  not  mentioned  in 
his  English  life.  He  there  describes  himself  with  his  usual  candour.  "  Depuis 
huit  ans  il  a  assist^  aux  deliberations  les  plus  importantes,  mais  il  ne  s'est  jamais 
trouv6  le  courage,  ni  le  talerit,  de  parler  dans  une  assembled  publique."  This 
sketch  was  written  before  the  publication  of  his  three  last  volumes,  as  in  closing 
it  he  says  of  his  History  :  "  Cette  entreprise  lui  demande  encore  plusieurs  annees 
d'une  application  soutenue ;  mais  quelqu'en  soit  le  succes,  il  trouve  dans  cette 
application  meme  un  plaisir  toujours  varie  et  toujours  renaissant ". — Sheffield. 

2 [Johnson,  in  his  Dictionary,  does  not  give  assist  in  this  sense,  though  a 
few  earlier  instances  are  found.  He  would  probably  have  censured  this 
"secondary  sense"  as  he  censured  "the  secondary  sense  of  transpire.  'To 
escape  from  secrecy  to  notice ;  a  sense  lately  innovated  from  France  without 
necessity'"  (Boswell's  Johnson,  iii.,  343).] 

3  [Gibbon  was  fortunate  in  having  such  a  leader,  for  "  according  to  the  ex- 
perience of  human  nature  we  may  calculate  a  hundred,  nay  a  thousand  chances, 
against  the  public  virtues  of  a  statesman"  (Misc.  Works,  iii.,  394.  See  post, 
p.  228).] 

4["  With  grave 
Aspect  he  rose,  and  in  his  rising  seem'd 
A  pillar  of  state." 

(Paradise  Lost,  ii. ,  300. )] 

9 ["Nam  mihi  egregie  dixisse  videtur  Servilius  Novianus,  pares  eos  magis 
quam  similes"  (Quinctilian,  Inst.  Orat.,  x.,  1).  Quoted  also  by  Gibbon  (Misc., 
Works,  iv.,  403). 

' '  Magis  pares  quam  similes  has  been  more  than  once  applied  to  these  two 
great  orators  [Fox  and  Pitt]  "  (Lord   Holland's  Memoirs  of  the  Whig  Party, 

ii-.  39)-] 

,J  [Burke,  on  March  18,  1779,  attacking  the  supineness  of  ministers,  "hoped 

that  government  was  not  dead,  but  only  asleep.     At  this  moment  he  looked 

directly  at   Lord  North,  who  was  asleep,  and  said  in  the  Scripture  phrase, 

'  Brother  Lazarus  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth'.     The  laugh  was  loud.     Even  the 

noble  Lord  seemed  to  enjoy  the  allusion  as  heartily  as  the  rest  of  the  House,  as 

soon  as  he  was  sufficiently  awake  to  understand  the  cause  of  the  joke"  (Pari. 

Hist.,  xx.,  327).] 

7[Thurlow  was  made  Chancellor  in  1778.     "  Mr.  Fox  once  said,  '  I  suppose 

no  man  was  ever  so  wise  as  Thurlow  looks,  for  that  is  impossible'"  (Lord 

Holland's  Memoirs,  etc.,  ii.,  6).     Lord  Holland  adds  that  "  his  language,  his 


1776]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  193 

and  the  skilful  eloquence  of  Wedderburne.1  From  the  adverse 
side  of  the  house  an  ardent  and  powerful  opposition  was 
supported,  by  the  lively  declamation  of  Barre,2  the  legal 
acuteness  of  Dunning,*  the  profuse  and  philosophic  fancy  of 
Burke,  and  the  argumentative  vehemence  of  Fox,  who  in  the 
conduct  of  a  party  approved  himself  equal  to  the  conduct  of 
an  empire.  By  such  men  every  operation  of  peace  and  war, 
every  principle  of  justice  or  policy,  every  question  of  authority 
and  freedom,  was  attacked  and  defended  4 ;  and  the  subject 
of  the  momentous  contest  was  the  union  or  separation  of 
Great  Britain  and  America.  The  eight  sessions  that  I  sat 
in  parliament  were  a  school  of  civil  prudence,  the  first  and 
most  essential  virtue  of  an  historian.5 

The  volume  of  my  History,  which  had  been  somewhat  de- 


manner,  his  public  delivery,  and  even  his  conduct  were  all  of  a  piece  with  his 
looks ;  all  calculated  to  inspire  the  world  with  a  high  notion  of  his  gravity, 
learning,  or  wisdom ;  but  all  assumed  for  the  purpose  of  concealing  the  real 
scantiness  of  his  attainments,  the  timidity  as  well  as  obscurity  of  his  under- 
standing," etc. 

"  No  Sir,"  said  Johnson,  "  it  is  when  you  come  close  to  a  man  in  conversa- 
tion, that  you  discover  what  his  real  abilities  are  ;  to  make  a  speech  in  a  publick 
assembly  is  a  knack.  Now  I  honour  Thurlow,  Sir  ;  Thurlow  is  a  fine  fellow ; 
he  fairly  puts  his  mind  to  yours"  {BosweWs  Johnson,  iv. ,  179.  See  also  ib., 
iv. ,  327).  Of  the  "  majestic  sense"  for  which  he  was  so  famous  the  following  is 
an  instance.  In  1788  a  deputation  of  dissenters  waited  on  him  to  ask  him  to 
support  the  repeal  of  the  Corporation  and  Test  Acts.  ' '  The  Chancellor  heard 
them  very  civilly,  and  then  said,  '  Gentlemen,  I'm  against  you,  by  G — .  I  am 
for  the  Established  Church,  d-amme  !  Not  that  I  have  any  more  regard  for 
the  Established  Church  than  for  any  other  church,  but  because  it  is  established. 
And  if  you  can  get  your  d — d  religion  established,  I'll  be  for  that  too  ! '  "  (H.  C. 
Robinson's  Diary,  i.,  378.)] 

l[Post,  p.  206.] 

2[Gibbon  described  Barre'  as  "  an  actor  equal  to  Garrick  "  {Corres.,  i.,  240).] 

'■'  [John  Dunning,  afterwards  Lord  Ashburton.  ' '  The  fact  is  well  known,"  said 
Lord  Shelburne,  ' '  of  Lord  Loughborough  [Wedderburne]  beginning  a  law  argu- 
ment in  the  absence  of  Mr.  Dunning,  but  upon  hearing  him  hem  in  the  course 
of  it,  his  tone  so  changed  that  there  was  not  a  doubt  in  any  part  of  the  House 
of  the  reason  of  it"  (Fitzmaurice's  Shelburne,  iii. ,  454).  His  "hem"  is  ex- 
plained by  Wraxall  {Memoirs,  ed.  1815,  ii. ,  42).  "  His  voice  was  so  husky  that 
he  lay  always  under  a  necessity  of  involuntarily  announcing  his  intention  to 
address  the  House  some  time  before  he  rose,  by  repeated  attempts  to  clear  his 
throat."] 

4["  The  use  and  reputation  of  oratory  among  the  ancient  Arabs  is  the  clearest 
evidence  of  public  freedom  "  {The  Decline,  v.,  321).] 

5  [Gibbon  wrote  to  Deyverdun  on  May  20,  1783  :  "  Vous  n'avez  pas  oublie 
que  je  suis  entry  au  Parlement  sans  patriotisme,  sans  ambition,  et  que  toutes 
mes  vues  se  bornaient  a  la  place  commode  et  honnete  d'un  Lord  of  Trade" 
{Corres.,  ii. ,  36).] 

13 


194  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1776 

layed  by  the  novelty  and  tumult  of  a  first  session,  was  now 
ready  for  the  press.  After  the  perilous  adventure  had  been 
declined  by  my  friend  Mr.  Elmsley,1  I  agreed,  upon  easy 
terms,  with  Mr.  Thomas  Cadell,  a  respectable  bookseller,  and 
Mr.  William  Strahan,  an  eminent  printer 2  ;  and  they  under- 
took the  care  and  risk  of  the  publication,  which  derived  more 
credit  from  the  name  of  the  shop  than  from  that  of  the  author. 
The  last  revisal  of  the  proofs  was  submitted  to  my  vigilance  ; 
and  many  blemishes  of  style,  which  had  been  invisible  in  the 
manuscript,  were  discovered  and  corrected  in  the  printed 
sheet.  So  moderate  were  our  hopes,  that  the  original  im- 
pression had  been  stinted  to  five  hundred,3  till  the  number 
was  doubled,  by  the  prophetic  taste  of  Mr.  Strahan.  During 
this  awful  interval  I  was  neither  elated  by  the  ambition  of 
fame,  nor  depressed  by  the  apprehension  of  contempt.  My 
diligence  and  accuracy  were  attested  by  my  own  conscience. 
History  is  the  most  popular  species  of  writing,  since  it  can 
adapt  itself  to  the  highest  or  the  lowest  capacity.  I  had 
chosen  an  illustrious  subject.  Rome  is  familiar  to  the  school- 
boy and  the  statesman ;  and  my  narrative  was  deduced  from 
the  last  period  of  classical  reading.  I  had  likewise  flattered 
myself,  that  an  age  of  light  and  liberty  would  receive,  without 
scandal,  an  inquiry  into  the  human  causes  of  the  progress  and 
establishment  of  Christianity.4 

1  [In  like  manner  John  Murray  "  declined  the  adventure"  of  publishing  two 
of  the  most  popular  histories  of  this  century — Prescott's  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
and  Motley's  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic  (See  Ticknor's  Life  of  Prescott,  ed. 
1864,  p.  103,  and  Holmes's  Memoirs  of  Motley,  ed.  1889,  p.  74).  For  a  brief 
account  of  Elmsley  see  Nichols's  Lit.  Anec,  vi. ,  440.] 

2  [For  an  account  of  Strahan  see  Hume's  Letters  to  Strahan,  Preface,  p.  43, 
and  of  Cadell,  ib. ,  p.  92.  Hume  wrote  to  Strahan  on  April  8,  1776:  "There 
will  no  books  of  reputation  now  be  printed  in  London  but  through  your  hands 
and  Mr.  Cadell's"  (ib.,  p.  314).] 

3  [Wilberforce  [Life,  ii. ,  199)  records  how  in  1797,  when  he  was  publishing 
his  Practical  Christianity,  "  Cadell  said  to  him  :  '  You  mean  to  put  your  name 
to  the  work?  Then  I  think  we  may  venture  upon  500  copies.'  Within  a  few 
days  it  was  out  of  print,  and  within  half  a  year  7,500  copies  had  been  called 
for."] 

4 ["Our  curiosity  is  naturally  prompted  to  inquire  by  what  means  the 
Christian  faith  obtained  so  remarkable  a  victory  over  the  established  religions 
of  the  earth.  To  this  inquiry  an  obvious  but  satisfactory  answer  may  be  re- 
turned, that  it  was  owing  to  the  convincing  evidence  of  the  doctrine  itself,  and 


1776]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  11)5 

I  am  at  a  loss  how  to  describe  the  success  of  the  work, 
without  betraying  the  vanity  of  the  writer.  The  first  im- 
pression was  exhausted  in  a  few  days ;  a  second  and  third 
edition  were  scarcely  adequate  to  the  demand 1 ;  and  the 
bookseller's  property  was  twice  invaded  by  the  pirates  of 
Dublin.-  My  book  was  on  every  table,  and  almost  on  every 
toilette  ;  the  historian  was  crowned  by  the  taste  or  fashion  of 
the  day  ;  nor  was  the  general  voice  disturbed  by  the  barking 
of  any  profane  critic.3  The  favour  of  mankind  is  most  freely 
bestowed  on  a  new  acquaintance  of  any  original  merit ;  and 
the  mutual  surprise  of  the  public  and  their  favourite  is  pro- 
ductive of  those  warm  sensibilities,  which  at  a  second  meeting 
can  no  longer  be  rekindled.  If  I  listened  to  the  music  of 
praise,  I  was  more  seriously  satisfied  with  the  approbation  of 
my  judges.4  The  candour  of  Dr.  Robertson  embraced  his 
disciple.5  A  letter  from  Mr.  Hume  overpaid  the  labour  of 
ten  years  ;  but  I  have  never  presumed  to  accept  a  place  in 
the  triumvirate  of  British  historians.6 

to  the  ruling  providence  of  its  great  Author.  But  as  truth  and  reason  seldom 
find  so  favourable  a  reception  in  the  world,  and  as  the  wisdom  of  Providence 
frequently  condescends  to  use  the  passions  of  the  human  heart,  and  the  general 
circumstances  of  mankind,  as  instruments  to  execute  its  purpose,  we  may  still 
be  permitted,  though  with  becoming  submission,  to  ask,  not  indeed  what  were 
the  first,  but  what  were  the  secondary  causes  of  the  rapid  growth  of  the 
Christian  Church"  {The  Decline,  ii. ,  2).] 

1  [See  Appendix  35.] 

2 [Post,  p.  233.  "The  natives,"  wrote  Gibbon,  "have  printed  it  very 
well"  (Corres,  i.,  288).  Ireland  was  first  brought  under  the  Copyright  Act  by 
the  41  Geo.  iii.,  c.  107.  See  my  editions  of  Letters  of  Hume  to  Strahan,  p.  176, 
and  of  Letters  of  Johnson  and  Chesterfield,  Preface,  p.  37.  Many  of  Pope's 
Poems,  which  sold  in  London  at  a  shilling,  were  to  be  had  in  Dublin  for  a 
penny  (Elwin  and  Courthope's  Pope,  vii. ,  302). 

"As  soon  as  Gibbon's  Autobiography  and  Miscellaneous  Works  came  out 
(writes  William  Maltby),  they  were  eagerly  devoured  both  by  Porson  and  my- 
self. Neither  of  us  could  afford  to  purchase  the  quarto  edition  ;  so  we  bought 
the  Dublin  reprint  in  octavo"  (Rogers's  Table  Talk  and  Porsoniana,  p.  303).] 

3  [Gibbon  in  his  Vindication  mentions  "  those  profane  critics  whose  examina- 
tion always  precedes,  and  sometimes  checks,  their  religious  assent "  (Misc. 
Works,  iv. ,  623).] 

4["  The  most  grateful  incense  is  the  praise  which  one  man  of  genius  bestows 
on  another  ;  we  are  sure  that  he  feels  the  merit  that  he  applauds  "  (ii. ,  iii. ,  484).  ] 

5 [See  ii.,  ii. ,  200-206,  for  Robertson's  correspondence  with  Gibbon.] 

s[.4nte,  p.  122.  Gibbon  cannot  have  been  sincere  in  writing  this.  So 
early  as  1761  he  had  recorded  in  his  journal:  "I  read  Hume's  History  of 
England  to  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.,  just  published,  ingenious  but  superficial" 


196  EDWAED  GIBBON  [1776 

That  curious  and  original  letter  will  amuse  the  reader,  and 
his  gratitude  should  shield  my  free  communication  from  the 
reproach  of  vanity.1 

"Edinburgh,  18th  March,  1776. 

"  Dear  Sir, 

"  As  I  ran  through  your  volume  of  history  with  great 
avidity  and  impatience,  I  cannot  forbear  discovering  some- 
what of  the  same  impatience  in  returning  you  thanks  for  your 
agreeable  present,  and  expressing  the  satisfaction  which  the 
performance  has  given  me.  Whether  I  consider  the  dignity 
of  your  style,  the  depth  of  your  matter,  or  the  extensiveness 
of  your  learning,  I  must  regard  the  work  as  equally  the  object 
of  esteem  ;  and  I  own  that  if  I  had  not  previously  had  the 
happiness  of  your  personal  acquaintance,  such  a  performance 
from  an  Englishman  in  our  age  would  have  given  me  some 
surprise.  You  may  smile  at  this  sentiment ;  but  as  it  seems 
to  me  that  your  countrymen,  for  almost  a  whole  generation, 
have  given  themselves  up  to  barbarous  and  absurd  faction, 
and  have  totally  neglected  all  polite  letters,  I  no  longer  ex- 
pected any  valuable  production  ever  to  come  from  them.2     I 

{ib. ,  i. ,  139,  n.).  Soon  after  the  publication  of  The  Decline  he  wrote:  "Our 
good  English  people  groaned  for  a  long  time  past  at  the  superiority  which 
Robertson  and  Hume  had  acquired,  and  as  national  prejudice  is  kept  alive 
at  very  little  expense  they  hastened  to  hoist,  by  dint  of  acclamations,  their 
un worth v  compatriot  to  the  niche  of  these  great  men  "  (Read's  Hist.  Studies, 
ii.,  388).] 

'[Hume  wrote  to  Strahan  on  Feb.  11,  1776 :  "  I  am  glad  to  see  my  friend 
Gibbon  advertised.  I  am  confident  it  will  be  a  very  good  book ;  though  I  am 
at  a  loss  to  conceive  where  he  finds  materials  for  a  volume  from  Trajan  to 
Constantine"  (Hume's  Letters  to  Strahan,  p.  311).  On  April  8  he  wrote  :  "  Dr. 
Smith's  performance  [  The  Wealth  of  Nations']  is  another  excellent  work  that  has 
come  from  your  press  this  winter  ;  but  I  have  ventured  to  tell  him  that  it  re- 
quires too  much  thought  to  be  as  popular  as  Mr.  Gibbon's"  [ib,,  p.  315).] 

2 [Hume  wrote  to  Strahan  on  Jan.  30,  1773:  "Considering  the  treatment  I 
have  met  with,  it  would  have  been  very  silly  for  me  at  my  years  to  continue 
writing  any  more ;  and  still  more  blamable  to  warp  my  principles  and  senti- 
ments in  conformity  to  the  prejudices  of  a  stupid,  factious  nation,  with  whom  I 
am  heartily  disgusted.  ...  It  is  so  sunk  in  stupidity  and  barbarism  and 
faction  that  you  may  as  well  think  of  Lapland  for  an  author.  The  best  book 
that  has  been  written  by  any  Englishman  these  thirty  years  (for  Dr.  Franklin 
is  an  American)  is  Tristram  Shandy,  bad  as  it  is"  [ib.,  p.  255).  "The  treat- 
ment" he  had  received  was  appointment  to  high  offices,  a  pension  of  ^400  a 
year,  and  a  higher  rate  of  payment  for  his  History  than  any  previous  writer  had 


1776]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  197 

know  it  will  give  you  pleasure  (as  it  did  me)  to  find  that  all 
the  men  of  letters  in  this  place  concur  in  the  admiration  of 
your  work,  and  in  their  anxious  desire  of  your  continuing  it. 

"  When  I  heard  of  your  undertaking  (which  was  some  time 
ago),  I  own  I  was  a  little  curious  to  see  how  you  would  extri- 
cate yourself  from  the  subject  of  your  two  last  chapters.  I 
think  you  have  observed  a  very  prudent  temperament ;  but  it 
was  impossible  to  treat  the  subject  so  as  not  to  give  grounds 
of  suspicion  against  you,  and  you  may  expect  that  a  clamour 
will  arise.  This,  if  anything,  will  retard  your  success  with  the 
public ;  for  in  every  other  respect  your  work  is  calculated  to 
be  popular.  But  among  many  other  marks  of  decline,  the 
prevalence  of  superstition  in  England  *  prognosticates  the  fall 
of  philosophy  and  decay  of  taste  ;  and  though  nobody  be 
more  capable  than  you  to  revive  them,  you  will  probably  find 
a  struggle  in  your  first  advances. 

"  I  see  you  entertain  a  great  doubt  with  regard  to  the 
authenticity  of  the  poems  of  Ossian.-  You  are  certainly  right 
in  so  doing.  It  is  indeed  strange  that  any  men  of  sense  could 
have  imagined  it  possible,  that  above  twenty  thousand  verses, 
along  with  numberless  historical  facts,  could  have  been  pre- 
served by  oral  tradition  during  fifty  generations,  by  the 
rudest,  perhaps,  of  all  the  European  nations,  the  most 
necessitous,  the  most  turbulent,  and  the  most  unsettled. 
Where  a  supposition  is  so  contrary  to  common  sense,  any 
positive  evidence  of  it  ought  never  to  be  regarded.  Men  run 
with  great  avidity  to  give  their  evidence  in  favour  of  what 
flatters  their  passions  and  their  national  prejudices.  You  are 
therefore  over  and  above  indulgent  to  us  in  speaking  of  the 
matter  with  hesitation. 

ever  had  (id.,  p.  257).  In  "these  thirty  years"  there  had  been  published 
Clarissa  and  Sir  Charles  Grandison,  Tom  Jones  and  Amelia,  the  great 
Dictionary,  The  Rambler  and  Rasselas,  Collins's  Odes  and  all  Gray's  Poems. 

With  good  reason  did  Bagehot  write:  "  Half  Hume's  mind,  or  more  than 
half,  was  distorted  by  his  hatred  of  England  and  his  love  of  France"  (Biog. 
Studies,  i.,  252).] 

1  [Hume  refers,  I  believe,  to  the  great  Methodist  movement.  It  had  been 
ridiculed  five  years  earlier  by  Smollett  in  Humphry  Clinker,  and  three  years 
earlier  by  Graves  in  T/ie  Spiritual  Quixote.] 

2  [See  Appendix  36.] 


198  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1777 

"  I  must  inform  you  that  we  all  are  vei'y  anxious  to  hear 
that  you  have  fully  collected  the  materials  for  your  second 
volume,  and  that  you  are  even  considerably  advanced  in  the 
composition  of  it.  I  speak  this  more  in  the  name  of  my 
friends  than  in  my  own ;  as  I  cannot  expect  to  live  so  long  as 
to  see  the  publication  of  it.  Your  ensuing  volume  will  be 
more  delicate  than  the  preceding,  but  I  trust  in  your  prudence 
for  extricating  you  from  the  difficulties ;  and,  in  all  events, 
you  have  courage  to  despise  the  clamour  of  bigots. 

I  am,  with  great  regard, 
Dear  Sir, 
Your  most  obedient  and  most  humble  Servant, 

David  Hume." 

Some  weeks  afterwards  I  had  the  melancholy  pleasure  of 
seeing  Mr.  Hume  in  his  passage  through  London ;  his  body 
feeble,  his  mind  firm.  On  the  25th  of  August  of  the  same 
year  (1776)  he  died,  at  Edinburgh,  the  death  of  a  philo- 
sopher.1 

My  second  excursion  to  Paris  was  determined  by  the 
pressing  invitation  of  M.  and  Madame  Necker,  who  had 
visited  England  in  the  preceding  summer.2  On  my  arrival 
I  found  M.  Necker  Director-general  of  the  finances,  in  the 
first  bloom  of  power  and  popularity.  His  private  fortune 
enabled  him  to  support  a  liberal  establishment,  and  his  wife, 
whose  talents  and  virtues  I  had  long  admired,  was  admirably 
qualified  to   preside   in    the    conversation    of   her   table   and 

1  [For  Adam  Smith's  account  of  his  death  see  Hume's  Letters  to  Strahan, 
Preface,  p.  34.  See  also  Boswell's  Johnson,  iii.,  153.  To  call  Hume  a  philo- 
sopher was  indeed  high  praise,  for  Gibbon  says  of  one  of  the  Greek  Emperors, 
that  ' '  he  pronounced  with  truth  that  a  prince  and  a  philosopher  are  the  two  most 
eminent  characters  of  human  society  "  (  The  Decline,  vi.,  457).] 

2  ["  London,  May  20,  1776.  At  present  I  am  very  busy  with  the  Neckers.  I 
live  with  her  just  as  I  used  to  do  twenty  years  ago  [ante,  p.  106],  laugh  at  her 
Paris  varnish,  and  oblige  her  to  become  a  simple  reasonable  Suissesse  "  (Corres., 
i. ,  282).  He  arrived  in  Paris  on  May  io,  1777,  and  returned  to  London  on  Nov. 
3  (id.,  i.,  311,  321).  His  step-mother,  he  wrote,  "started  two  very  ingenious 
objections  "  to  his  journey.  "  1st,  that  I  shall  be  confined,  or  put  to  death,  by 
the  priests,  and  2ndly,  that  I  shall  sully  my  moral  character  by  making  love 
to  Necker's  wife"  (id.,  i.,  305).  For  his  reassuring  reply  to  Mrs.  Gibbon  see 
id.,  p.  306.] 


1777]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  199 

drawing-room.  As  their  friend,  I  was  introduced  to  the 
best  company  of  both  sexes  ;  to  the  foreign  ministers  of  all 
nations,  and  to  the  first  names  and  characters  of  France  ; 
who  distinguished  me  by  such  marks  of  civility  and  kindness, 
as  gratitude  will  not  suffer  me  to  forget,  and  modesty  will  not 
allow  me  to  enumerate.1  The  fashionable  suppers  often  broke 
into  the  morning  hours  2  ;  yet  I  occasionally  consulted  the 
Royal  Library,  and  that  of  the  Abbey  of  St.  Germain,  and  in 
the  free  use  of  their  books  at  home  I  had  always  reason  to 
praise  the  liberality  of  those  institutions.  The  society  of  men 
of  letters  I  neither  courted  nor  declined  ;  but  I  was  happy  in 
the  acquaintance  of  M.  de  Buffon,  who  united  with  a  sublime 
genius  the  most  amiable  simplicity  of  mind  and  manners.3 
At  the  table  of  my  old  friend,  M.  de  Foncemagne,4  I  was 
involved  in  a  dispute  with  the  Abbe  de  Mably  ;  and  his 
jealous  irascible  spirit  revenged  itself  on  a  work  which  he  was 
incapable  of  reading  in  the  original.5 

As  I  might  be  partial  in  my  own  cause,  I  shall  transcribe 
the  words  of  an  unknown  critic,6  observing  only,  that  this 
dispute  had  been  preceded  by  another  on  the  English  con- 
stitution, at  the  house  of  the  Countess  de  Froulay,  an  old 
Jansenist  lady. 

"  Vous  etiez  chez  M.  de  Foncemagne,  mon  cher  Theodon, 
le  jour  que  M.  l'Abbe  de  Mably  et  M.  Gibbon  y  dinerent  en 
grande  compagnie.  La  conversation  roula  presque  entierement 
sur  l'histoire.  L'Abbe  etant  un  profond  politique,  la  tourna 
sur  1'administration,  quand  on  fut  au  dessert  :  et  comme  par 

1  [See  Appendix  37.] 

2  ["  Paris,  June  16,  1777.  After  decking  myself  out  with  silks  and  silver,  the 
ordinary  establishment  of  coach,  lodging,  servants,  eating  and  pocket  expenses 
does  not  exceed  sixty  pounds  per  month.  Yet  I  have  two  footmen  in  handsome 
liveries  behind  my  coach,  and  my  apartment  is  hung  with  damask  "  (Corns.,  i. , 

3I3)- 

"Aug.  11.  To  the  great  admiration  of  the  French,  I  regularly  dine  and 
regularly  sup,  drink  a  dish  of  strong  coffee  after  each  meal,  and  find  my  stomach 
a  Citizen  of  the  World  "  (ib.,  p.  318).] 

3 [Ante,  p.  152.]  i[Il>. ,  p.  153.]  5 [See  Appendix  38.] 

u  ["  Cette  refutation  de  la  Maniere  d'icrire  FHistoire,  par  l'abb^  de 
Mably,  est  de  M.  Gudin  de  La  Brenellerie.  .  .  .  C'est  au  jeune  Theodon,  l'un 
des  interlocuteurs  de  l'Entretien  de  l'abbe'  de  Mably,  que  sont  adressees  toutes 
les  critiques  que  Ton  fait  sur  les  principes  de  son  maitre"  [Nldmoires  de  Grimm, 
ed.  1814,  vi.,  138).] 


200  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1777 

caractere,  par  humeur,  par  l'habitude  d'admirer  Tite  Live, 
il  ne  prise  que  le  systeme  republican!,  il  se  mit  a  vanter 
l'excellence  des  republiques  ;  bien  persuade  que  le  savant 
Anglois  l'approuveroit  en  tout,  et  admireroit  la  profondeur  de 
genie  qui  avoit  fait  deviner  tous  ces  avantages  a  un  Francois. 
Mais  M.  Gibbon,  instruit  par  1' experience  des  inconv6niens 
d'un  gouvernement  populaire,  ne  fut  point  du  tout  de  son 
avis,  et  il  prit  genereusement  la  defense  du  gouvernement 
monarchique.  L'Abbe  voulut  le  convaincre  par  Tite  Live,  et 
par  quelques  argumens  tires  de  Plutarque  en  faveur  des 
Spartiates.  M.  Gibbon,  doue  de  la  memoire  la  plus  heureuse, 
et  ayant  tous  les  faits  presens  &  la  pensee,  domina  bientot  la 
conversation  ;  l'Abbe  se  facha,  il  s'emporta,  il  dit  des  choses 
dures  ;  l'Anglois,  conservant  le  phlegme  de  son  pays,  prenoit 
ses  avantages,  et  pressoit  l'Abbe  avec  d'autant  plus  de  succes 
que  la  colere  le  troubloit  de  plus  en  plus.  La  conversation 
s'echauffoit,  et  M.  de  Foncemagne  la  rompit  en  se  levant  de 
table,  et  en  passant  dans  le  salon,  ou  personne  ne  fut  tente 
de  la  renouer."  (Supplement  a  la  Maniere  d'dcrire  I'Histoire, 
p.  125,  &c.) 

Nearly  two  years  had  elapsed  between  the  publication  of 
my  first  and  the  commencement  of  my  second  volume  ;  and 
the  causes  must  be  assigned  of  this  long  delay.  1.  After  a 
short  holiday,  I  indulged  my  curiosity  in  some  studies  of  a 
very  different  nature,  a  course  of  anatomy,  which  was  demon- 
strated by  Doctor  Hunter1 ;  and  some  lessons  of  chemistry,  - 

1  [In  the  spring  of  1777  Gibbon  was  attending  these  lectures  two  hours  every 
day  (Carres.,  i. ,  304).  Horace  Walpole  wrote  on  Nov.  1,  1770  (Letters,  vii. , 
456)  :  "  Dr.  Hunter  had  the  impudence  t'other  day  to  pour  out  at  his  Anatomic 
lecture  a  more  outrageous  Smeltiad  than  Smelt  himself,  and  imputed  all  our 
disgraces  and  ruin  to  the  Opposition.  Burke  was  present,  and  said  he  had 
heard  of  Political  Arithmetic,  but  never  before  of  Political  Anatomy." 

Leonard  Smelt  was  sub-governor  to  the  Prince  of  Wales.  The  Political 
Arithmetic  is  the  title  of  a  work  by  Sir  William  Petty.] 

2  [The  study  of  chemistry  was  popular  at  this  time.  Watson,  lecturing  at 
Cambridge  (1766-69),  had  crowded  audiences  "  of  persons  of  all  ages  and  degrees 
in  the  University"  (Life  of  Bishop  Watson,  i. ,  46,  53).  Dr.  Thomas  Beddoes 
*'  was  made  Chemistry  Reader  at  Oxford  in  1791,  attracting,  he  says,  the  largest 
class  assembled  in  Oxford  since  the  thirteenth  century  "  (MacLeane's  Pembroke 
College,  p.  392),  Chemistry  was  still  in  its  infancy.  Nevertheless  Gibbon  laments 
"  that  it  should  not  yet  be  reduced  to  a  state  olfixity  "  (Auto.,  p.  317,  «.).  He 
italicises  fixity,  as  he  is  using  a  chemical  term.] 


1778]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  201 

which  were  delivered  by  Mr.  Higgins.  The  principles  of 
these  sciences,  and  a  taste  for  books  of  natural  history, 
contributed  to  multiply  my  ideas  and  images  ;  and  the 
anatomist  and  chemist  may  sometimes  track  me  in  their  own 
snow.1  2.  I  dived,  perhaps  too  deeply,  into  the  mud  of  the 
Arian  controversy  ;  and  many  days  of  reading,  thinking,  and 
writing  were  consumed  in  the  pursuit  of  a  phantom.2  3.  It 
is  difficult  to  arrange,  with  order  and  perspicuity,  the  various 
transactions  of  the  age  of  Constantine  ;  and  so  much  was  I 
displeased  with  the  first  essay,  that  I  committed  to  the  flames 
above  fifty  sheets.  4.  The  six  months  of  Paris  and  pleasure 
must  be  deducted  from  the  account.  But  when  I  resumed 
my  task  I  felt  my  improvement  ;  I  was  now  master  of  my 
style  and  subject,  and  while  the  measure  of  my  daily  per- 
formance was  enlarged,  I  discovered  less  reason  to  cancel  or 
correct.  It  has  always  been  my  practice  to  cast  a  long 
paragraph  in  a  single  mould,  to  try  it  by  my  ear,  to  deposit 
it  in  my  memory,  but  to  suspend  the  action  of  the  pen  till  I 
had  given  the  last  polish  to  my  work.3  Shall  I  add,  that  I 
never  found  my  mind  more  vigorous,  nor  my  composition 
more  happy,  than  in  the  winter  hurry  of  society  and  parlia- 
ment ? 

Had  I  believed  that  the  majority  of  English  readers  were 
so  fondly  attached  even  to  the  name  and  shadow  of  Christ- 
ianity 4  ;  had  I  foreseen  that  the  pious,  the  timid,  and  the 

1["  He  [Ben  Jonson]  was  not  only  a  professed  imitator  of  Horace,  but  a 
learned  plagiary  of  all  the  others  ;  you  track  him  everywhere  in  their  snow  " 
(Dryden's  Works,  ed.  1892,  xv. ,  300).] 

'2[In  ch.  xxi.  Horace  Walpole  {Letters,  ix.,  127)  wrote  of  a  controversy 
described  in  ch.  xlvii  :  "  So  far  from  being  Catholic  or  heretic,  I  wished  Mr. 
Gibbon  had  never  heard  of  Monophysites,  Nestorians,  or  any  such  fools!" 
Cardinal  Newman,  in  his  Hisioi y  of  my  Religious  Opinions,  ed.  1865,  p.  114, 
tells  how  in  the  year  1839  he  was  "  seriously  alarmed  "  by  the  discovery  that  he 
was  himself  a  Monophysite.] 

3 ["Of  composition  there  are  different  methods.  Some  employ  at  once 
memory  and  invention,  and  with  little  intermediate  use  of  the  pen  form  and 
polish  large  masses  by  continued  meditation,  and  write  their  productions  only 
when,  in  their  own  opinion,  they  have  completed  them  "  (Johnson's  Works, 
viii.,  321  ;    see  post,  pp.  225,  245).] 

4 [Gibbon  had  trusted  to  that  "fanatical  animosity  against  Christianity," 
writes  Mackintosh,  "which  was  so  prevalent  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century  "  {Life  of  Mackintosh,  i.,  245), 


202  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1779 

prudent,  would  feel,  ov  affect  to  feel,  with  such  exquisite 
sensibility  ;  I  might,  perhaps,  have  softened  the  two  invidious 
chapters,  which  would  create  many  enemies,  and  conciliate 
few  friends.  But  the  shaft  was  shot,  the  alarm  was  sounded, 
and  I  could  only  rejoice,  that  if  the  voice  of  our  priests  was 
clamorous  and  bitter,  their  hands  were  disarmed  from  the 
powers  of  persecution.  I  adhered  to  the  wise  resolution  of 
trusting  myself  and  my  writings  to  the  candour  of  the  public, 
till  Mr.  Davies  of  Oxford  presumed  to  attack,  not  the  faith, 
but  the  fidelity,  of  the  historian.1  Mi/  Vindication,  expressive 
of  less  anger  than  contempt,  amused  for  a  moment  the  busy 
and  idle  metropolis  2  ;  and  the  most  rational  part  of  the  laity, 
and  even  of  the  clergy,  appear  to  have  been  satisfied  of  my 
innocence  and  accuracy.  I  would  not  print  this  Vindication 
in  quarto,  lest  it  should  be  bound  and  preserved  with  the 
History  itself.3  At  the  distance  of  twelve  years,  I  calmly 
affirm  my  judgment  of  Davies,  Chelsum,  &c.  A  victory  over 
such  antagonists  was  a  sufficient  humiliation.4  They,  how- 
ever, were  rewarded  in  this  world.  Poor  Chelsum  was  indeed 
neglected  ;  and  I  dare  not  boast  the  making  Dr.  Watson  a 

"  In  speaking  of  the  15th  and  16th  chapters  Grote  thought  that  they  had 
been  unfairly  condemned,  in  so  far  as  hostility  to  Christian  tradition  went.  He 
regarded  these  chapters  as  falling  under  the  legitimate  treatment  of  an  historical 
pen,  and  nothing  further.  And  had  they  been  written  at  the  present  day 
[1868]  far  less  fuss  would  have  been  made  about  their  mischievous  tendency  " 
{Life  of  Grote,  ed.   1873,  p.  296).] 

1  [For  Davies,  Chelsum,  Watson,  Apthorpe,  Taylor,  Milner,  Priestley  and 
White  see  Appendix  39.] 

2  [For  Gibbon's  Vindication  see  Appendix  40.] 

3  [His  Vindication  he  thus  concludes  :  "  I  am  impatient  to  dismiss,  and  to 
dismiss  For  Ever,  this  odious  controversy,  with  the  success  of  which  I  cannot 
surely  be  elated  ;  and  I  have  only  to  request  that,  as  soon  as  my  readers  are 
convinced  of  my  innocence,  they  would  forget  my  Vindication  "  (ii. ,  iv. ,  648). 

"  Why  then,  let  me  ask,"  writes  Parr,  "  was  that  Vindication  republished 
by  the  noble  Editor  ?  "  (Parr's  Works,  ii. ,  577.)] 

4[Pattison,  in  his  Essay  on  Religions  Thought  in  England,  writing  of  "  the 
supply  of  evidences  [of  Christianity]  in  what  for  the  sake  of  a  name  may  be 
called  the  Georgian  period  (1750-1830)  "  continues  :  "  The  historical  investiga- 
tion, indeed,  of  the  Origincs  of  Christianity  is  a  study  scarcely  second  in 
importance  to  a  philosophical  arrangement  of  its  doctrines.  But  for  a  genuine 
inquiry  of  this  nature  the  English  writers  of  the  period  had  neither  the  taste 
nor  the  knowledge.  Gibbon  alone  approached  the  true  difficulties,  but  met 
only  with  opponents,  '  victory  over  whom  was  a  sufficient  humiliation  '  "  (Pat- 
tison's  Essays,  ii.,  49).] 


1779]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  203 

bishop  ;  he  is  a  prelate  of  a  large  mind  and  liberal  spirit  :  but 
I  enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  giving  a  Royal  pension  to  Mr.  Davies, 
and  of  collating  Dr.  Apthorpe  to  an  archiepiscopal  living. 
Their  success  encouraged  the  zeal  of  Taylor  the  Arian,  and 
Milner  the  Methodist,  with  many  others,  whom  it  would  be 
difficult  to  remember,  and  tedious  to  rehearse.  The  list  of 
my  adversaries,  however,  was  graced  with  the  more  respectable 
names  of  Dr.  Priestley,  Sir  David  Dalrymple,  and  Dr.  White ; 
and  every  polemic,  of  either  university,  discharged  his  sermon 
or  pamphlet  against  the  impenetrable  silence  of  the  Roman 
historian.  In  his  History  of  the  Corruptions  of  Christianity,  Dr. 
Priestley  threw  down  his  two  gauntlets  to  Bishop  Hurd  and 
Mr.  Gibbon.  I  declined  the  challenge  in  a  letter  exhorting 
my  opponent  to  enlighten  the  world  by  his  philosophical  dis- 
coveries, and  to  remember  that  the  merit  of  his  predecessor 
Servetus  is  now  reduced  to  a  single  passage,  which  indicates 
the  smaller  circulation  of  the  blood  through  the  lungs,  from 
and  to  the  heart.1  Instead  of  listening  to  this  friendly  advice, 
the  dauntless  philosopher  of  Birmingham  continues  to  fire 
away  his  double  battery  against  those  who  believe  too  little, 
and  those  who  believe  too  much.  From  my  replies  he  has 
nothing  to  hope  or  fear  :  but  his  Socinian  shield  has  re- 
peatedly been  pierced  by  the  spear  of  the  mighty  Horsley,2 
and  his  timmpet  of  sedition 3  may  at  length  awaken  the 
magistrates  of  a  free  country. 

1  Astruc  de  la  Structure  du  Cceur,  i. ,  77,  79. — Gibbon.  [This  work  is  not  in  the 
British  Museum.  C.  E.  Jordan,  in  his  Histoire  d'  tin  Voyage  Littdrai re,  Hague, 
1735,  p.  170,  who  in  1733  found  all  Servetus's  works  in  the  library  of  Dr.  Mead 
(Boswell's  Johnson,  iii. ,  355,  n.),  writes:  "On  pretend  trouver  la  circulation 
du  sang  dans  son  Restitutio  Christianismi ".  Jordan,  after  quoting  the 
passage,  says  "  qu'il  ne  parait  pas,  par  ce  passage,  d'une  maniere  fort  claire, 
qu'il  ait  connu  le  secret  de  la  circulation  du  sang.  L'amour  que  nous  avons 
pour  les  Anciens  fait  que  nous  croions  tout  trouver  chez  eux.  L'on  croit  voir 
le  systeme  de  la  circulation  du  sang  dans  Ciceron.  Voyez  la  page  1100  De  Xatura 
Deorum,  de  l'eclition  de  Verburg."] 

2  [In  the  first  edition,  "  by  the  spear  of  Horsley  "  ;  in  the  second,  "  by  the 
mighty  spear  of  Horsley  ".     For  Horsley  see  Appendix  41.] 

3["  When  the  public  peace  was  distracted  by  heresy  and  schism,  the  sacred 
orators  sounded  the  trumpet  of  discord,  and  perhaps  of  sedition  "  (  The  Decline, 
ii. ,  327). 

George  III.  said  of  Lord  Chatham  in  1775  :  "  When  decrepitude  or  death 
puts  an  end  to  him  as  a  trumpet  of  sedition,"  etc.  (I  have  mislaid  the 
reference. )] 


204  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1779 

The  profession  and  rank  of  Sir  David  Dalrymple  (now  a 
Lord  of  Session  l)  have  given  a  more  decent  colour  to  his 
style.  But  he  scrutinizes  each  separate  passage  of  the  two 
chapters  with  the  dry  minuteness  of  a  special  pleader  ;  and 
as  he  is  always  solicitous  to  make,  he  may  have  succeeded 
sometimes  in  finding  a  flaw.'2  In  his  Annals  of  Scotland, 
he  has  shown  himself  a  diligent  collector  and  an  accurate 
critic.3 

I  have  praised,  and  I  still  praise,  the  eloquent  sermons 
which  were  preached  in  St.  Mary's  pulpit  at  Oxford  by  Dr. 
White.  If  he  assaulted  me  with  some  degree  of  illiberal 
acrimony,  in  such  a  place,  and  before  such  an  audience,  he 
was  obliged  to  speak  the  language  of  the  country.  I  smiled 
at  a  passage  in  one  of  his  private  letters  to  Mr.  Badcock  ; 
"The  part  where  we  encounter  Gibbon  must  be  brilliant  and 
striking". 

In  a  sermon  preached  before  the  university  of  Cambridge,4 
Dr.  Edwards  complimented  a  work,  "  which  can  perish  only 
with  the  language  itself"  ;  and  esteems  the  author  a  formidable 
enemy.  He  is,  indeed,  astonished  that  more  learning  and 
ingenuity  has  not  been  shown  in  the  defence  of  Israel ;  that 
the  prelates  and  dignitaries  of  the  church  (alas,  good  man  !) 
did  not  vie  with  each  other,  whose  stone  should  sink  the 
deepest  in  the  forehead  of  this  Goliah.5 

"  But  the  force  of  truth  will  oblige  us  to  confess,  that  in 
the  attacks  which  have  been  levelled  against  our  sceptical 
historian,  we  can  discover  but  slender  traces  of  profound  and 
exquisite  erudition,  of  solid  criticism  and  accurate  investiga- 
tion ;    but   we    are   too    frequently  disgusted    by  vague   and 


1  [The  Lords  of  Session  are  the  Judges  of  Scotland.     Sir  David  Dalrymple 
is  better  known  to  the  readers  of  Boswell  as  Lord  Hailes.] 

2  [He  published  in  1786  An  Inquiry  into  the  Secondary  Causes  which  Mr. 
Gibbon  has  assigned  for  the  rapid  growth  of  Christianity.^ 

''  [See  Boswell's  Johnson,  iii. ,  404,  for  Johnson's  praise  of  their  exactness.] 
i[The  Jewish  and  Heathen  Rejection  of  the  Christian  Miracles.     Preached 

before  the  University  of  Cambridge,  March  7,  1790.     By  Thomas  Edwards, 

LL.D.] 

■'  [Goliath.] 


1779]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  205 

inconclusive  reasoning  ;  by  unseasonable  banter  and  senseless 
witticisms  ;  by  imbittered  bigotry  and  enthusiastic  jargon  ; 
by  futile  cavils  and  illiberal  invectives.  Proud  and  elated  by 
the  weakness  of  his  antagonists,  he  condescends  not  to  handle 
the  sword  of  controversy.''  * 

Let  me  frankly  own  that  I  was  startled  at  the  first  discharge 
of  ecclesiastical  ordnance  ;  but  as  soon  as  I  found  that  this 
empty  noise  was  mischievous  only  in  the  intention,  my  fear 
was  converted  into  indignation  ;  and  every  feeling  of  indigna- 
tion or  curiosity  has  long  since  subsided  in  pure  and  placid 
indifference.2 

The  prosecution  of  my  History  was  soon  afterwards  checked 
by  another  controversy  of  a  very  different  kind.  At  the 
request  of  the  Lord  Chancellor,3  and  of  Lord  Weymouth,4 
then  Secretary  of  State,  I  vindicated,  against  the  French 
manifesto,5  the  justice  of  the  British  arms.  The  whole 
correspondence  of  Lord  Stormont,0  our  late  ambassador  at 
Paris,  was  submitted  to  my  inspection,  and  the  Memoire 
Justificatif,  which  I  composed  in  French,  was  first  approved 
by  the  Cabinet  Ministers,  and  then  delivered  as  a  State  paper 
to  the  Courts  of  Europe."     The  style  and  manner  are  praised 

1  [The  passage  continues  :  "but  darts  forth  the  envenomed  shafts  of  sarcastic 
ridicule :  he  approaches  indeed  the  camp,  and  defies  the  armies  of  the  living 
God;  yet  he  approaches  not  like  Goliah  [Goliath],  to  call  forth  a  champion,  but 
to  insult  and  triumph  over  his  vanquished  enemies"  (Monthly  Review,  Oct. 
1790.  p.  237).] 

'-[For  a  list  of  the  principal  replies  to  Gibbon  see  The  Decline,  ed.  Milman, 
ed.  1854,  i.,  107. 

"  Mr.  Gibbon  retained  his  resentments  more  stedfastly,  and  felt  them  more 
painfully,  than  his  discretion  or  his  pride  would  suffer  him  to  acknowledge. 
The  softness  of  his  expressions  often  gave  a  sharper  edge  to  the  severity  of  his 
invectives,  and  the  gaiety  of  ridicule  is  often  employed  by  him,  not  as  a  check 
but  as  a  disguise  to  the  fierceness  of  anger"  (Parr's  Works,  ii. ,  575).] 

3 [Lord  Thurlow.]  4 [First  Marquis  of  Bath.] 

5  [A  translation  of  it  is  published  in  the  Annual  Register  for  1779,  1.,  390.] 

6  [On  Oct.  27,  1779,  he  was  made  Secretary  of  State.  In  1793  he  succeeded 
his  uncle  as  second  Earl  of  Mansfield.] 

7 [Gibbon  dates  it  May,  1779  (Auto.,  p.  319).  It  is  published  in  the  original 
in  Gibbon's  Misc.  Works,  v. ,  1,  and  as  a  translation  in  the  Annual  Register  for 
1779,  i.,  397). 

Lord  Sheffield  writes  that  Gibbon  spoke  to  him  of  it  "with  some  pleasure, 
observing  that  it  had  been  translated  even  into  the  Turkish  language"  (Misc. 
Works,  preface,  p.  19). 

According  to  Jeremy  Bentham,  his  friend  John  Lind  "got  an  order  to  draw 


206  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1779 

by  Beaumarchais  himself,  who,  in  his  private  quarrel,  attempted 
a  reply  *  ;  but  he  flatters  me,  by  ascribing  the  memoir  to 
Lord  Stormont  2 ;  and  the  grossness  of  his  invective  betrays 
the  loss  of  temper  and  of  wit ;  he  acknowledged,  that  le  style 
ne  serait  pas  sans  grace,  ni  la  logique  sans  justesse,  etc.,  if  the 
facts  were  true  which  he  undertakes  to  disprove.3  For  these 
facts  my  credit  is  not  pledged ;  I  spoke  as  a  lawyer  from  my 
brief,  but  the  veracity  of  Beaumai-chais  may  be  estimated 
from  the  assertion  that  France,  by  the  treaty  of  Paris  (1763) 
was  limited  to  a  certain  number  of  ships  of  war.  On  the 
application  of  the  Duke  of  Choiseul,  he  was  obliged  to  retract 
this  daring  falsehood.4 

Among  the  honourable  connections  which  I  had  formed,  I 
may  justly  be  proud  of  the  friendship  of  Mr.  Wedderburne, 
at  that  time  Attorney-General,  who  now  illustrates  the  title 
of  Lord  Loughborough,  and  the  office  of  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Common    Pleas.5      By  his   strong  recommendation,  and   the 


up  a  declaration  against  the  revolted  colonies.  There  were  two  such  declara- 
tions. Gibbon  drew  up  the  other.  Lind  for  his  Manifesto  got  ^50  a  year  for 
each  of  his  sisters.     It  was  not  well  done"  (Bentham's  Works,  x.,  55).] 

1  [Beaumarchais  and  his  partners  were  charged  with  despatching  to  America 
in  January  1777,  when  we  were  still  at  peace  with  France,  nine  large  ships 
laden  with  arms  (Gibbon's  Misc.  Works,  v.,  18).  He  gloried  in  what  he  had 
done  (CEuvres  de  Beaumarchais,  ed.  1809,  v.,  20,  24).] 

2[/^.,  p.  2.] 

3  [Beaumarchais  begins  by  saying  that  during  Lord  Stormont's  residence  at 
Paris  the  American  deputies,  whenever  any  false  report  was  circulated,  used  to 
say  :  "Ne  croyez  par  cela,  Monsieur,  c'est  du  Stormont  tout  pur  ".  He  continues 
that  the  style,  "  bien  qu'un  peu  trainant  dans  la  traduction,  ne  manquerait  pas 
de  graces,  ni  la  logique  de  justesse,  si  l'^crivain,"  etc.  (id.,  p.  43).] 

4  [The  statement  does  not  appear  in  his  Observations  as  published  in  his 
collected  works.  Anthony  Storer  wrote  to  W.  Eden  on  Nov.  29,  1787:  "The 
French  are  now  paying  for  the  American  war,  which  Necker  told  Gibbon  had 
cost  them  seventy-one  millions  sterling"  (Auckland  Corres.,  i.,  449).  This 
waste  of  treasure  hurried  on  and  intensified  the  French  Revolution.] 

5[He  was  made  Lord  Chancellor  in  1793,  and  Earl  of  Rosslyn  in  1801. 
"  I  know  nothing  of  Pitt  as  a  war  minister,"  wrote  Gibbon  in  1793,  "but  it 
affords  me  much  satisfaction  that  the  intrepid  wisdom  of  the  new  Chancellor  is 
introduced  into  the  Cabinet"  (Corres.,  ii. ,  371).  Horace  Walpole  (Letters,  vii., 
506),  writing  on  Jan.  27,  1781,  of  the  new  volume  of  The  Decline,  says  :  "There 
is  flattery  to  the  Scots  that  would  choke  anything  but  Scots,  who  can  gobble 
feathers  as  readily  as  thistles.  David  Hume  and  Adam  Smith  are  legislators 
and  sages,  but  the  homage  is  intended  for  his  patron,  Lord  Loughborough." 
The  references  are  to  The  Decline,  ii.,  483  ;  iii.,  44.     See  also  id.,  vi.,  311 ;  vii., 


1780]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  207 

favourable  disposition  of  Lord  North,  I  was  appointed  one  of 
the  Lords  Commissioners  of  Trade  and  Plantations  J ;  and  my 
private  income  was  enlarged  by  a  clear  addition  of  between 
seven  and  eight  hundred  pounds  a  year.  The  fancy  of  an 
hostile  orator  may  paint,  in  the  strong  colours  of  ridicule, 
"the  perpetual  virtual  adjournment,  and  the  unbroken  sitting 
vacation  of  the  Board  of  Trade".2  But  it  must  be  allowed 
that  our  duty  was  not  intolerably  severe,  and  that  I  enjoyed 
many  days  and  weeks  of  repose,  without  being  called  away 
from  my  library  to  the  office.  My  acceptance  of  a  place 
provoked  some  of  the  leaders  of  opposition,  with  whom  I  had 
lived  in  habits  of  intimacy  ;  and  I  was  most  unjustly  accused 
of  deserting  a  party,  in  which  I  had  never  enlisted.3 

The  aspect  of  the  next  session  of  parliament  was  stormy 
and  perilous  ;  county  meetings,  petitions,  and  committees  of 
correspondence,  announced  the  public  discontent 4 ;  and  in- 
stead of  voting  with  a  triumphant  majority,  the  friends  of 
government  were  often  exposed  to  a  struggle,  and  sometimes 
to  a  defeat.  The  House  of  Commons  adopted  Mr.  Dunning's 
motion,  "  That  the  influence  of  the  Crown  had  increased,  was 

215.  In  another  passage  (vi. ,  320)  Gibbon  describes  Loughborough  as  "  a 
learned  Lord,  who,  with  an  accurate  and  discerning  eye,  has  surveyed  the 
philosophic  history  of  law.  By  his  studies  posterity  might  be  enriched  ;  the 
merit  of  the  orator  and  the  judge  can  he  felt  only  by  his  contemporaries." 

Wedderburne's  "skilful  eloquence"  did  much  to  turn  Benjamin  Franklin 
into  one  of  the  bitterest  enemies  of  that  country  which  he  had  been  wont  to 
speak  of  as  "home  "  [Letters  of  Hume  to  Strahan,  p.  226).  Johnson  spoke  of 
him  and  John  Home  as  two  Scotchmen  whom  "Lord  Bute  had  to  go  on 
errands  for  him"  (Boswell's  Johnson,  ii.,  354).  When  the  news  came  to 
Windsor  Castle  of  his  death  "the  King  inquired  again  and  again  whether  it 
might  not  be  a  false  report.  When  assured  that  there  could  be  no  mistake 
about  it,  His  Majesty  felt  free  to  exclaim,  'Then  he  has  not  left  a  greater 
knave  behind  him  in  my  dominions'"  (Stanhope's  Pitt,  iv. ,  251).  For  an 
instance  of  his  knavery  see  ib.,  iii.,  264-271.  See  also  ante,  p.  193,  and  post, 
p.  261,  n.] 

1  [Gibbon  informed  his  step-mother  of  the  appointment  on  July  3,  1779 
( Corres,  i. ,  366).  According  to  the  Pari.  Hist. ,  xviii. ,  7  (which  must  be  mistaken) , 
the  new  writ  on  his  taking  office  was  issued  on  June  3.] 

2  [See  Appendix  42.  ]  :!  [lb. ,  43.  ] 

4  [ "  The  business  of  public  meetings,  of  petitions  to  parliament ,  and  of  associa- 
tions for  the  redress  of  grievances,  was  commenced  during  the  [Christmas] 
recess."  Yorkshire  and  Middlesex  led  the  way.  In  each  of  these  counties  "a 
committee  of  correspondence  and  association  "  was  appointed.  Their  example 
was  soon  followed  by  other  counties  (Annual  Register,  1780,  i.,  85).] 


208  EDWARD  GIBBON  [mo 

increasing,  and  ought  to  be  diminished,"  l  and  Mr.  Burke's 
bill  of  reform  was  framed  with  skill,  introduced  with  eloquence, 
and  supported  by  numbers.  Our  late  president,  the  American 
Secretary  of  State,  very  narrowly  escaped  the  sentence  of 
proscription  ;  but  the  unfortunate  Board  of  Trade  was  abolished 
in  the  committee  by  a  small  majority  (207  to  199)  of  eight 
votes.  The  storm,  however,  blew  over  for  a  time;  a  large 
defection  of  country  gentlemen  eluded  the  sanguine  hopes  of 
the  patriots  :  the  Lords  of  Trade  were  revived  ;  administration 
recovered  their  strength  and  spirit ;  and  the  flames  of  London, 
which  were  kindled  by  a  mischievous  madman,2  admonished 
all  thinking  men  of  the  danger  of  an  appeal  to  the  people. 
In  the  premature  dissolution  which  followed  this  session  of 
parliament  I  lost  my  seat.3  Mr.  Elliot  was  now  deeply 
engaged  in   the    measures    of   opposition,    and    the    electors 


![On  April  6,  1780— "  a  day,"  wrote  Horace  Walpole  {Letters,  vii.,  345), 
"that  ought  for  ever  to  be  a  red-lettered  day" — Dunning  made  this  motion. 
It  was  carried  by  233  to  215  {Pari.  Hist.,  xxi.,  340-67).  On  May  7,  1783,  Pitt 
asserted  in  the  House  ' '  that  a  secret  influence  of  the  Crown  was  sapping  the 
very  foundation  of  liberty  by  corruption.  .  .  .  The  House  had  been  base  enough 
to  feed  the  influence  that  enslaved  its  members,  and  thus  was  at  one  time  the 
parent  and  the  offspring  of  corruption  "  {ib.,  xxiii.,  830). 

Wilberforce  in  his  Sketch  of  Pitt  lamented  that  Pitt,  when  in  1783  he  first 
became  Prime  Minister,  "  had  not  generously  resolved  to  govern  his  country 
by  principle  rather  than  by  influence  "  {Private  Papers  of  IV.  Wilberforce,  p.  73). 
For  Fox's  attack  on  influence  and  on  Pitt  on  Dec.  17,  1783,  see  Pari.  Hist., 
xxiv.,  206-20.  "For  God's 'sake,"  he  said,  "strangle  us  not  in  the  very 
moment  we  look  for  success  and  triumph  by  an  infamous  string  of  bedchamber 
janissaries"  {ib.,  p.  220).] 

2  [Lord  George  Gordon.  The  riots  which  bear  his  name  began  on  June  2, 
and  through  the  incredible  weakness  of  the  Ministers  lasted  nearly  a  week 
(Boswell's  Johnson,  iii.,  428;  Letters  of  Johnson,  ii.,  166).  On  June  27  Gibbon 
had  the  audacity  to  write  :  "  The  measures  of  government  have  been  seasonable 
and  vigorous"  {Corres,  i.,  382).  "  Lord  North,"  said  the  King,  "was  actuated 
in  every  instance  by  a  desire  of  present  ease  at  the  risk  of  any  future  difficulty. 
This  he  instanced  in  the  American  War  and  in  the  riots  of  1780  "  (Russell's  Life 
of  Fox,  ed.  1866,  ii.,  5). 

"  It  was  industriously  circulated  that  the  Opposition  were  the  secret  authors 
of  the  late  riots."  A  nobleman,  it  was  reported,  had  been  killed  among  the 
rioters  and  his  body  thrown  into  the  Thames  to  prevent  discovery.  It  was  with 
astonishment  that  he  was  beheld  in  the  House  of  Peers  the  following  winter. 
"  Popular  fury  seemed  the  greatest  of  all  possible  evils.  And  administration 
gathered  power  from  a  tumult  which  appeared  to  threaten  the  subversion  of  all 
government"  {Ann.  Reg.,  1780,  i.,  200;   1781,  i.,  137-38,  140).] 

3 [The  dissolution  on  Sept.  i,  1780,  came  "  like  a  thunder-clap"  {Ann.  Reg., 
1781,  i.,  141).] 


1781]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  209 

of   Leskeard    are    commonly    of   the    same    opinion    as    Mr. 
Elliot.* 

In  this  interval  of  my  senatorial  life,  I  published  the  second 
and  third  volumes  of  the  Decline  and  Fall.-'  My  ecclesiastical 
history  still  breathed  the  same  spirit  of  freedom  ;  but  Protes- 
tant zeal  is  more  indifferent  to  the  characters  and  contro- 
versies of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries.  My  obstinate  silence 
had  damped  the  ardour  of  the  polemics.  Dr.  Watson,  the 
most  candid  of  my  adversaries,  assured  me  that  he  had  no 
thoughts  of  renewing  the  attack,  and  my  impartial  balance 
of  the  virtues  and  vices  of  Julian  was  generally  praised.3 
This  truce  was  interrupted  only  by  some  animadversions  of 
the  Catholics  of  Italy,  and  by  some  angry  letters  from  Mr. 
Travis,  who  made  me  personally  responsible  for  condemning, 
with  the  best  critics,  the  spurious  text  of  the  three  heavenly 
witnesses. 


1  [The  electors,  it  seems  probable,  were  only  brought  over  to  his  opinion  at  a 
cost  of  ,£2,400  each  election  (Corres.,  L,  228). 

Mr.  W.  P.  Courtney,  writing  of  the  representation  of  Liskeard,  says  :  "  Then 
[1722]  one  of  the  house  of  Eliot,  of  Port  Eliot,  appeared  upon  the  scene,  the 
earliest  evidence  of  a  connection  which  lasted  uninterruptedly,  though  not 
without  an  occasional  struggle  for  emancipation,  until  1832  "  (Pari.  Represe?ita- 
tion  of  Cornwall,  p.  258). 

Bentham,  who  met  Eliot  at  Bowood  (Lord  Shelburne's  seat)  in  the  summer 
of  1781,  described  him  as  "  modest  enough  in  his  conversation  about  politics, 
but  desponding.  He  says  he  scarce  ever  looks  into  a  paper,  nor  dares  he,  for 
fear  of  ill  news.  .  .  .  He  brought  in  seven  members  the  last  time.  Gibbon  he 
brought  in  for  private  friendship  ;  though,  as  it  turned  out,  much  to  his  regret " 
(Bentham's  Works,  x. ,  96,  101).  In  the  division  on  Dunning's  motion,  Gibbon 
voted  with  the  Government  in  the  minority,  while  Eliot  and  Samuel  Salt, 
Gibbon's  fellow-member  for  Liskeard,  were  in  the  majority  (Pari.  Hist.,  xxi., 
368). 

Gibbon  had  the  impudence  to  write:  "Mr.  Elliot,  actuated,  as  it  should 
seem,  by  the  Demon  of  Party,  has  renounced  me  "  (Corres. ,  i. ,  386).  Eliot  sup- 
ported Shelburne  and  Pitt  against  the  Coalition  Ministry  (see  post,  p.  214).] 

2  [They  were  published  on  March  1,  1781  (Corres.,  L,  396).  On  Feb.  1,  1780, 
Strahan  and  Cadell  published  as  a  frontispiece  to  the  quarto  edition  an  engrav- 
ing by  Hall  of  Reynolds's  portrait  of  Gibbon,  with  the  superscription  :  "  Edward 
Gibbon  Esqr.  born  the  8th  May,  1737".  According  to  Lord  Sheffield,  "by 
far  the  best  likeness  of  him  that  exists  is  that  painted  by  Mr.  Warton  in  1774, 
before  he  became  very  corpulent"  (Misc.  Works,  Preface,  p.  11).  For  an 
engraving  from  it  see  id.,  frontispiece.] 

:i  [Dr.  Robertson  wrote  to  him  about  Julian  :  "  I  am  much  struck  with  the 
felicity  wherewith  you  have  described  that  odd  infusion  of  Heathen  fanaticism 
and  philosophical  coxcombry  which  mingled  with  the  great  qualities  of  a  hero 
and  a  genius  "  (Misc.   Works,  ii.,  250).] 

14 


210  EDWARD  GIBBON  [i78i 

The  piety  or  prudence  of  my  Italian  translator  has  provided 
an  antidote  against  the  poison  of  his  original.1  The  5th  and 
7th  volumes  are  armed  with  five  letters  from  an  anonymous 
divine  to  his  friends,  Foothead  and  Kirk,  two  English  stu- 
dents at  Rome  :  and  this  meritorious  service  is  commended 
by  Monsignore  Stonor,  a  prelate  of  the  same  nation,  who 
discovers  much  venom  in  the  jlnid  and  nervous  style  of 
Gibbon.2  The  critical  essay  at  the  end  of  the  third  volume 
was  furnished  by  the  Abbate  Nicola  Spedalieri,  whose  zeal 
has  gradually  swelled  to  a  more  solid  confutation  in  two 
quarto  volumes. — Shall  I  be  excused  for  not  having  read 
them  ? 

The  brutal  insolence  of  Mr.  Travis's  challenge  can  only  be 
excused  by  the  absence  of  learning,  judgment,  and  humanity  ; 
and  to  that  excuse  he  has  the  fairest  or  foulest  pretension.3 
Compared  with  Archdeacon  Travis,  Chelsum  and  Davies 
assume  the  title  of  respectable  enemies. 

The  bigoted  advocate  of  popes  and  monks  may  be  turned 
over  even  to  the  bigots  of  Oxford  ;  and  the  wretched  Travis 
still  smarts  under  the  lash  of  the  merciless  Porson.  I  con- 
sider Mr.  Porson's  answer  to  Archdeacon  Travis  as  the  most 
acute  and  accurate  piece  of  criticism  which  has  appeared 
since  the  days  of  Bentley.  His  strictures  are  founded  in 
argument,  enriched  with  learning,  and  enlivened  with  wit ; 
and  his  adversary  neither  deserves  nor  finds  any  quarter  at 
his  hands.  The  evidence  of  the  three  heavenly  witnesses 
would  now  be  rejected  in  any  court  of  justice :  but  prejudice 
is  blind,   authority  is  deaf,  and  our  vulgar  bibles   will  ever 


1  [Nine  volumes  of  the  Italian  translation,  to  the  end  of  ch.  xxxviii.,  were 
published  at  Pisa  in  1779-86.  A  tenth  volume  was  printed,  but  not  published, 
and  was  afterwards  destroyed  (see  MS.  entry  in  vol.  i.  of  the  copy  in  the  Brit. 
Mus.j.  It  has  Gibbon's  bookplate  and  was  bought  at  Lausanne  about  1855. 
A  complete  edition  was  published  at  Milan  in  1821-24.  Dean  Milman  could 
never  get  sight  of  the  Italian  translation  (The  Decline,  ed.  1854,  L,  109,  «.).] 

2  [On  June  12,  1784,  Kirk  wrote  to  the  anonymous  divine  :  "  Monsig.  Stonor 
approves  of  your  having  published  a  precaution,  that  heedless  readers  may  not 
be  deceived  with  his  fluid  and  nervous  style,  and  with  the  fame  that  he  has 
acquired  "  {Istoria  della  Decadenza,  etc.,  ed.  1783,  vii. ,  202).] 

3  [See  Appendix  44.  ] 


1781]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  211 

be  polluted  by  this  spurious  text,  "  sedet  ceternumque  sedebit l." 
The  more  learned  ecclesiastics  will  indeed  have  the  secret 
satisfaction  of  reprobating  in  the  closet  what  they  read  in 
the  church. 

I  perceived,  and  without  surprise,  the  coldness  and  even 
prejudice  of  the  town  ;  nor  could  a  whisper  escape  my  ear, 
that,  in  the  judgment  of  many  readers,  my  continuation  was 
much  inferior  to  the  original  attempts.2  An  author  who  can- 
not ascend  will  always  appear  to  sink  :  envy  was  now  pre- 
pared for  my  reception,  and  the  zeal  of  my  religious,  was 
fortified  by  the  motive  of  my  political,  enemies.3  Bishop 
Newton,  in  writing  his  own  life,  was  at  full  liberty  to  declare 
how  much  he  himself  and  two  eminent  brethren  were  dis- 
gusted by  Mr.  G.'s  prolixity,  tediousness,  and  affectation. 
But  the  old  man  should  not  have  indulged  his  zeal  in  a 
false  and  feeble  charge  against  the  historian,4  who  had 
faithfully  and  even  cautiously  rendered  Dr.  Burnet's  5  meaning 
by  the  alternative  "  of  sleep  or  repose  ".  That  philosophic 
divine  supposes,  that,  in  the  period  between  death  and  the 
resurrection,  human  souls  exist  without  a  body,  endowed  with 
internal  consciousness,  but  destitute  of  all  active  or  passive 
connection  with  the  external  world.  "  Secundum  communem 
dictionem  sacrae  scripturse,  mors  dicitur  somnus,  et  morientes 
dicuntur  abdormire,  quod  innuere  mihi  videtur  statum  mortis 
esse  statum  quietis,  silentii,  et  depyao-ias  "  [De  Statu  Mortuorum, 
ch.  v.,  p.  98  [ed.  1720,  p.  96]). 

I  was  however  encouraged  by  some  domestic  and  foreign 

1  [/Eneid,  vi.,  617. 

"  Is  fixed  by  Fate  on  his  eternal  chair." 

(Dry  den.) 
For  the  disappearance  of  this  pollution  see  Appendix  44]. 

2  [Horace  Walpole  wrote  of  the  second  and  third  volumes  :  "  Though  these 
volumes  are  not  polished  like  the  first,  you  see  that  he  is  never  thinking  of  his 
subject,  but  intending  to  make  his  periods  worthy  of  himself.  ...  I  was 
charmed,  as  I  owned,  with  the  enamel  of  the  first  volume,  but  I  am  tired  by 
this  rhetorical  diction,  and  wish  again  for  Bishop  Burnet's  And  so  "  (Walpole's 
Letters,  viii. ,  15}.] 

3  ["  The  patriots,"  Gibbon  wrote,  "  wish  to  damn  the  work  and  the  author  " 
(Corres.,  i.,  398).] 

4  [See  Appendix  45.]  5  [Thomas  Burnet.] 


212  EDWAED  GIBBON  [i78i 

testimonies  of  applause ;  and  the  second  and  third  volumes 
insensibly  rose  in  sale  and  reputation  to  a  level  with  the  first. 
But  the  public  is  seldom  wrong ;  and  I  am  inclined  to  believe 
that,  especially  in  the  beginning,  they  are  more  prolix  and 
less  entertaining  than  the  first ;  my  efforts  had  not  been 
relaxed  by  success,  and  I  had  rather  deviated  into  the 
opposite  fault  of  minute  and  superfluous  diligence.  On  the 
Continent,  my  name  and  writings  were  slowly  diffused  ;  a 
French  translation  of  the  first  volume  had  disappointed  the 
booksellers  of  Paris  l ;  and  a  passage  in  the  third  was  con- 
strued as  a  personal  reflection  on  the  reigning  monarch.2 

Before  I  could  apply  for  a  seat  at  the  general  election  the 
list  was  already  full ;  but  Lord  North's  promise  was  sincere, 
his  recommendation  was  effectual,  and  I  was  soon  chosen  on 
a  vacancy  for  the  borough  of  Lymington,  in  Hampshire.3  In 
the  first  session  of  the  new  parliament,  administration  stood 
their  ground ;  their  final  overthrow  was  reserved  for  the 
second.  The  American  war  had  once  been  the  favourite  of 
the  country :  the  pride  of  England  was  irritated  by  the 
resistance  of  her  colonies,  and  the  executive  power  was  driven 

1  [Gibbon  had  to  pay  two  guineas  and  a  half  postage  on  the  French  transla- 
tion of  the  first  seven  chapters  sent  from  Paris  (Corres. ,  i. ,  296).  Johnson  was 
charged  £7  10s.  for  a  packet  by  the  post  from  Lisbon  (Boswell's  Johnson,  iii., 
22).] 

2  It  may  not  be  generally  known  that  Louis  XVI.  is  a  great  reader,  and  a 
reader  of  English  books.  On  perusing  a  passage  of  my  History  which  seems 
to  compare  him  to  Arcadius  or  Honorius,  he  expressed  his  resentment  to  the 
Prince  of  B — — ,  from  whom  the  intelligence  was  conveyed  to  me.  I  shall 
neither  disclaim  the  allusion,  nor  examine  the  likeness  ;  but  the  situation  of  the 
late  King  of  France  excludes  all  suspicion  of  flattery  ;  and  I  am  ready  to 
declare  that  the  concluding  observations  of  my  third  volume  were  written  before 
his  accession  to  the  throne. — Gibbon. 

[The  Memoir  in  which  this  note  occurs  is  dated  March  2,  1791.  By  that 
time  Louis  XVI.  was  merely  a  king  in  name.  He  ascended  the  throne  on  May 
10,  1774,  nearly  seven  years  before  the  publication  of  the  third  volume.  The 
following  is  the  passage  which  excited  his  resentment :  "  Europe  is  now  divided 
into  twelve  powerful,  though  unequal,  kingdoms,  three  respectable  common- 
wealths, and  a  variety  of  smaller,  though  independent,  states  :  the  chances  of 
royal  and  ministerial  talents  are  multiplied,  at  least  with  the  number  of  its 
rulers  ;  and  a  Julian  or  Semiramis  may  reign  in  the  North,  while  Arcadius 
and  Honorius  again  slumber  on  the  thrones  of  the  House  of  Bourbon  ".  In  a 
later  edition,  as  Professor  Bury  points  out,  Gibbon  altered  "  House  of  Bourbon  " 
into  "  South  "  (The  Decline,  iv. ,  165,  529).  Four  pages  after  this  attack  on  the 
Bourbons  he  ended  the  first  half  of  the  History  by  a  compliment  to  George  III.] 

:i[He  was  chosen  at  the  end  of  June,  1781  (Corres.,  ii.,  1).] 


1782]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  213 

by  national  clamour  into  the  most  vigorous  and  coercive 
measures.1  But  the  length  of  a  fruitless  contest,  the  loss  of 
armies,  the  accumulation  of  debt  and  taxes,  and  the  hostile 
confederacy  of  France,  Spain,  and  Holland,  indisposed  the 
public  to  the  American  war,  and  the  persons  by  whom  it  was 
conducted  ;  the  representatives  of  the  people,  followed,  at  a 
slow  distance,  the  changes  of  their  opinion,  and  the  ministers 
who  refused  to  bend,  were  broken  by  the  tempest.  As  soon 
as  Lord  North  had  lost,  or  was  about  to  lose,  a  majority 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  he  surrendered  his  office,  and 
retired  to  a  private  station,  with  the  tranquil  assurance  of  a 
clear  conscience  and  a  cheerful  temper :  the  old  fabric  was 
dissolved,  and  the  posts  of  government  were  occupied  by  the 
victorious  and  veteran  troops  of  opposition.'2  The  Lords  of 
Trade  were  not  immediately  dismissed,  but  the  Board  itself 
was  abolished  by  Mr.  Burke's  bill,  which  decency  had  com- 
pelled the  patriots  3  to  revive  4  ;  and  I  was  stripped  of  a  con- 
venient salary,  after  having  enjoyed  it  about  three  years. 

So  flexible  is  the  title  of  my  History,  that  the  final  sera 
might  be  fixed  at  my  own  choice ;  and  I  long  hesitated 
whether  I  should  be  content  with  the  three  volumes,  the  fall 
of  the  Western  empire,  which  fulfilled  my  first  engagement 
with    the    public.       In    this    interval    of   suspense,    nearly   a 

1  [See  Appendix  46.] 

2  [Grimm  (Mimoires,  ed.  1814,  v.,  328)  points  out  that  in  the  Rockingham 
Ministry  which  followed  Lord  North's  there  were  four  descendants  of  Henry  IV. 
of  France:  the  Duke  of  Grafton,  Lord  Privy  Seal ;  Charles  Fox,  Secretary  of 
State  ;  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  Master  of  the  Ordnance;  and  Admiral  Keppel, 
First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty.] 

:J  [Gibbon  wrote  on  Jan.  7,  1779:  "I  do  assure  you  that  I  have  not  any 
claims  to  the  injurious  epithet  of  '  a  patriot'  "  (Corres. ,  i.,  354).  For  "  patriot  " 
see  BosweW's  Johnson,  iv. ,  87.] 

4  [This  is  a  placeman's  sneer.  In  the  great  distress  of  his  country  Gibbon  had 
received  .£750  a  year  for  almost  nominal  services  (Corres.,  ii.,  36).  "The 
annual  saving,  which  would  be  yearly  increasing,"  effected  by  Burke's  bill  was 
^72,000 ;  ^12,600  of  which  was  due  to  the  abolition  of  the  Board  of  Trade 
(Pari.  Hist.,  xxii.,  1412  ;  Ann.  Reg.,  1782,  i.,  180;  Rockingham  Memoirs,  ii., 
399).     See  also  ante,  p.  208,  and /<;.«",  p.  215). 

Pitt  revived  the  Board  in  1786,  putting  at  the  head  of  it  Charles  Jenkinson 
(Lord  Hawkesbury,  afterwards  first  Earl  of  Liverpool),  "  the  King's  friend," 
the  leader  of  "  the  reptiles  who  burrow  under  the  throne,"  to  use  Fox's  words 
(Pari.  Hist.,  xxiv. ,  217).  Pitt,  however,  abolished  many  sinecures  (Stanhope's 
Pitt,  i.,  306  ;  iv.,  416  ;  Aim.  Reg.,  1786,  i.,  219).] 


214  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1782 

twelvemonth,  I  returned  by  a  natural  impulse  to  the  Greek 
authors  of  antiquity  ;  I  read  with  new  pleasure  the  Iliad  and 
the  Odyssey,  the  Histories  of  Herodotus,  Thucydides,  and 
Xenophon,  a  large  portion  of  the  tragic  and  comic  theatre 
of  Athens,  and  many  interesting  dialogues  of  the  Socratic 
school.  Yet  in  the  luxury  of  freedom  I  began  to  wish  for 
the  daily  task,  the  active  pursuit,  which  gave  a  value  to  every 
book,  and  an  object  to  every  inquiry  ;  the  preface  of  a  new 
edition  announced  my  design,1  and  I  dropped  without  reluc- 
tance from  the  age  of  Plato  to  that  of  Justinian.  The  original 
text  of  Procopius  and  Agathias  2  supplied  the  events  and  even 
the  characters  of  his  reign  :  but  a  laborious  winter  was  devoted 
to  the  Codes,  the  Pandects,  and  the  modern  interpreters, 
before  I  presumed  to  form  an  abstract  of  the  civil  law.3  My 
skill  was  improved  by  practice,  my  diligence  perhaps  was 
quickened  by  the  loss  of  office ;  and,  excepting  the  last 
chapter,  I  had  finished  the  fourth  volume  before  I  sought 
a  retreat  on  the  banks  of  the   Leman  Lake. 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  narrative  to  expatiate  on  the 
public  or  secret  history  of  the  times  :  the  schism  which 
followed  the  death  of  the  Marquis  of  Rockingham,  the 
appointment  of  the  Earl  of  Shelburne,  the  resignation  of 
Mr.  Fox,  and  his  famous  coalition  with  Lord  North.1  But  I 
may  assert,  with  some  degree  of  assurance,  that  in  their 
political  conflict  those  great  antagonists  had  never  felt  any 
personal  animosity  to  each  other,5  that  their  reconciliation  was 
easy  and  sincere,  and  that  their  friendship  has  never  been 
clouded  by  the  shadow  of  suspicion  or  jealousy.  The  most 
violent  or  venal  of  their  respective  followers  embraced   this 

1  [The  preface  was  dated  March  i,  1782.] 

2  [For  Gibbon's  character  of  Procopius  see  The  Decline,  iv.,  210,  and  for 
"  the  false  and  florid  rhetoric  "  that  "  Agathias  lavished  "  see  ib. ,  iv. ,  382.] 

:1[For  this  abstract  see  ib. ,  ch.  44.  In  writing  the  reign  of  Frederic  I.  (a.d. 
1152-90)  Gibbon  says:  "The  recent  discovery  of  the  Pandects  had  renewed 
a  science  most  favourable  to  despotism  "  (ib.,  v.,  303).] 

4  [See  Appendix  47.] 

5  ["  The  style  of  declamation  must  never  be  confounded  with  the  genuine 
sense  which  respectable  enemies  entertain  of  each  other's  merits  "  (The  Decline, 
v.,  116).] 


1783]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  215 

fair  occasion  of  revolt,  but  their  alliance  still  commanded  a 
majority  in  the  House  of  Commons  ;  the  peace  was  censured, 
Lord  Shelburne  resigned,  and  the  two  friends  knelt  on  the 
same  cushion  to  take  the  oath  of  Secretary  of  State.  From  a 
principle  of  gratitude  I  adhered  to  the  coalition  :  my  vote 
was  counted  in  the  day  of  battle,  but  I  was  overlooked  in 
the  division  of  the  spoil.  There  were  many  claimants  more 
deserving  and  importunate  than  myself x :  the  Board  of  Trade 
could  not  be  restored ;  and,  while  the  list  of  places  was 
curtailed,  the  number  of  candidates  was  doubled.2  An  easy 
dismission  to  a  secure  seat  at  the  Board  of  Customs  or  Excise 
was  promised  on  the  first  vacancy  :  but  the  chance  was 
distant  and  doubtful  s  ;  nor  could  I  solicit  with  much  ardour 
an  ignoble  servitude,  which  would  have  robbed  me  of  the 
most  valuable  of  my  studious  hours  :  at  the  same  time  the 
tumult  of  London,  and  the  attendance  on  parliament,  were 
grown  more  irksome  ;  and,  without  some  additional  income, 
I  could  not  long  or  prudently  maintain  the  style  of  expense 
to  which  I  was  accustomed.4 

1  [Gibbon,  on  May  20,  1783,  wrote  to  Deyverdun  of  Lord  North  :  "  Des 
collogues  plus  actifs  lui  enlevent  les  morceaux  les  plus  friands,  qui  sont  aussitot 
devor^s  par  la  voracite'  de  leurs  creatures"  (Corres.,  ii.,  37).  It  never  seems 
to  have  occurred  to  him  that  he  was  one  of  Lord  North's  "creatures".  To 
Dr.  Robertson  he  wrote  on  Sept.  1  :  "If  the  means  of  patronage  had  not  been 
so  strangely  reduced  by  our  modern  reformers,  I  am  persuaded  Lord  Lough- 
borough's constant  and  liberal  kindness  would  more  than  satisfy  the  moderate 
desires  of  a  philosopher"  (Stewart's  Robertson,  p.  364).  On  May  28,  1784,  he 
wrote  :   "  The  reign  of  pensions  and  sinecures  is  at  an  end  "  (Corres.,  ii. ,  107). 

"  The  reign  of  pensions  and  sinecures"  was  not  wholly  at  an  end.  In  1802 
the  Prime  Minister,  Addington,  bestowed  the  Clerkship  of  the  Pells,  a  sinecure 
of  ,£3,000  a  year,  on  his  own  son,  a  boy  of  sixteen.  Pitt  highly  approved  of  the 
appointment  (Stanhope's  Pitt,  iii.,  385).  Pitt  himself,  as  Lord  Warden  of  the 
Cinque  Ports,  received  more  than  ,£3,000  a  year  (id.,  iii.,  341).  He  pensioned 
off  his  mother's  housekeeper  by  a  sinecure  post  of  housekeeper  of  ^40,  and 
later  on  by  a  better  one  of  about  j£i<;o  a  year  (ib.,  i.,  347  ;  ii.,  221).  On  the 
other  hand  in  the  Customs  he  abolished  eighty-five  sinecures  (ib. ,  iv. ,  416).] 

2  [W.  Eden  wrote  to  Lord  Loughborough  on  July  24,  1782:  "Burke's 
foolish  bill  has  made  it  a  very  difficult  task  for  any  set  of  men  either  to  form 
or  maintain  an  Administration"  (Auckland  Corres.,  i. ,  12).] 

:i  [Lord  Sheffield  wrote  to  William  Eden  on  June  13,  1783  :  "  Gibbon  and  I 
have  been  walking  about  the  room,  and  cannot  find  any  employment  we 
should  like  in  the  intended  establishment  [of  the  Prince  of  Wales].  He  agrees 
with  me  that  the  place  of  dancing-master  might  be  one  of  the  most  eligible  for 
him,  but  he  rather  inclines  to  be  painter,  in  hopes  of  succeeding  Ramsay  [as 
King's  Painter]"  (Auckland  Corres.,  i.,  53).] 

4  [See  Appendix  48.] 


216  EDWARD  GIBBON  [i78S 

From  my  early  acquaintance  with  Lausanne  I  had  always 
cherished  a  secret  wish,  that  the  school  of  my  youth  might 
become  the  retreat  of  my  declining  age.1  A  moderate  for- 
tune would  secure  the  blessings  of  ease,  leisure,  and  in- 
dependence :  the  country,  the  people,  the  manners,  the 
language,  were  congenial  to  my  taste  ;  and  I  might  indulge 
the  hope  of  passing  some  years  in  the  domestic  society  of  a 
friend.  After  travelling  with  several  English,2  Mr.  Deyver- 
dun  was  now  settled  at  home,  in  a  pleasant  habitation,  the 
gift  of  his  deceased  aunt  3  :  we  had  long  been  separated,  we 
had  long  been  silent  ;  yet  in  my  first  letter  4  I  exposed,  with 
the  most  perfect  confidence,  my  situation,  my  sentiments, 
and  my  designs.  His  immediate  answer  was  a  warm  and 
joyful  acceptance  :  the  picture  of  our  future  life  provoked 
my  impatience  ;  and  the  terms  of  arrangement  were  short 
and  simple,  as  he  possessed  the  property,  and  I  undertook 
the  expense  of  our  common  house.  Before  I  could  break  my 
English  chain,  it  was  incumbent  on  me  to  struggle  with  the 
feelings  of  my  heart,  the  indolence  of  my  temper,  and  the 
opinion  of  the  world,  which  unanimously  condemned  this 
voluntary  banishment.5  In  the  disposal  of  my  effects,  the 
library,  a  sacred  deposit,  was  alone  excepted  6  :  as  my  post- 

1  ["The  beauteous  and  happy  country  where  I  am  permitted  to  reside" 
{The  Decline,  iv. ,  495).] 

2  Sir  Richard  Worsley,  Lord  Chesterfield,  Broderick  Lord  Middleton,  and 
Mr.  Hume,  brother  to  Sir  Abraham. — Gibbon.     [See  ante,  p.  176.] 

3  [See  Read's  Hist.  Studies,  i. ,  7  ;  ii. ,  297.] 

4  [Dated  May  20,  1783  (Corres.,  ii.,  35).] 

5  [Lord  Sheffield  wrote  on  Aug.  7,  1783  :  "  Gibbon  has  baffled  all  arrange- 
ments ;  possibly  you  may  have  heard  of  a  continental  scheme.  It  has  annoyed 
me  much  ;  and  of  all  circumstances  the  most  provoking  is  that  he  is  right;  a 
most  pleasant  opportunity  offered.  His  seat  in  Parliament  is  left  in  my  hands. 
He  is  here.  In  short,  his  plan  is  such  that  it  was  impossible  to  urge  anything 
against  it  "  {Auckland  Corres.,  i.,  56).  Lord  Sheffield  was  to  find  a  purchaser 
of  Gibbon's  seat  for  Lymington.  Its  value  depended  on  the  expectation  of  the 
duration  of  the  parliament  then  sitting.  The  dissolution  came  before  any 
bargain  was  completed  {Corres.,  ii.,  81,  93,  99,   101).] 

6  [He  sent  "  two  immense  cases  of  books  "  to  Lausanne  (Stewart's  Robertson, 
p.  365).  On  Aug.  18  he  wrote  :  "  This  morning  my  books  were  shipped  for 
Rouen,  and  will  reach  Lausanne  almost  as  soon  as  myself.  On  Thursday 
morning  the  bulk  of  the  library  moves  from  Bentinck  Street  to  Downing  Street 
(Lord  Sheffield's)"  {Corres.,  ii.,  62).  He  reached  Lausanne  on  Sept.  27  ;  but 
his  books  "by  some  strange  neglect"  did  not  reach  him  till  February,  1784 
{id.,  pp.  74,  94,  97).] 


1784]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  217 

chaise  moved  over  Westminster-bridge,  I  bid  a  long  farewell 
to  the  "  fumum  et  opes  strepitumque  Romae  *  ".  My  journey 
by  the  direct  road  through  France  2  was  not  attended  with 
any  accident,  and  I  arrived  at  Lausanne  nearly  twenty  years 
after  my  second  departure.  Within  less  than  three  months 
the  coalition  struck  on  some  hidden  rocks  :  had  I  remained 
on  board,  1  should  have  perished  in  the  general  shipwreck. 
Since  my  establishment  at  Lausanne,  more  than  seven  years 
have  elapsed  ;  and  if  every  day  has  not  been  equally  soft  and 
serene,  not  a  day,  not  a  moment,  has  occurred  in  which  I  have 
repented  of  my  choice.  During  my  absence,  a  long  portion  of 
human  life,  many  changes  had  happened  :  my  elder  acquaint- 
ance had  left  the  stage ;  virgins  were  ripened  into  matrons, 
and  children  were  grown  to  the  age  of  manhood.  But  the 
same  manners  were  transmitted  from  one  generation  to  an- 
other :  my  friend  alone  was  an  inestimable  treasure  ;  my  name 
was  not  totally  forgotten,  and  all  were  ambitious  to  welcome 
the  arrival  of  a  stranger  and  the  return  of  a  fellow-citizen. 
The  first  winter  was  given  to  a  general  embrace,  without  any 
nice  discrimination  of  persons  and  characters.  After  a  more 
regular  settlement,  a  more  accurate  survey,  I  discovered  three 
solid  and  permanent  benefits  of  my  new  situation.  1.  My 
personal  freedom  had  been  somewhat  impaired  by  the  House 
of  Commons  and  the  Board  of  Trade  ;  but  I  was  now  de- 
livered from  the  chain  of  duty  and  dependence,  from  the 
hopes  and  fears  of  political  adventure  :  my  sober  mind  was  no 
longer  intoxicated  by  the  fumes  of  party,  and  I  rejoiced  in 
my  escape,  as  often  as  I  read  of  the  midnight  debates  which 
preceded  the  dissolution  of  parliament.  2.  My  English 
ceconomy  had  been  that  of  a  solitary  bachelor,  who  might 
afford  some  occasional  dinners.3     In  Switzerland  I  enjoyed  at 

1  [Horace,   Odes,  iii. ,  29,  12. 

"  Its  crowds,  and  smoke,  and  opulence,  and  noise." 

(Francis.) 
Gibbon  left  London  on  Sept.  15  (Corres.,  ii. ,  71).] 

2  [He  went  by  the  road  he  had  travelled  to  his  banishment  thirty  years 
earlier  (ante,  p.  82).] 

3  [Gibbon,  writing  to  Lord  Sheffield  on  Nov.    14,   1783,   described  him  as 
having  "passed  the  afternoon,  the  evening,  and  perhaps  the  night,  without 


218  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1784 

every  meal,  at  every  hour,  the  free  and  pleasant  conversation 
of  the  friend  of  my  youth ;  and  my  daily  table  was  always 
provided  for  the  reception  of  one  or  two  extraordinary  guests.1 
Our  importance  in  society  is  less  a  positive  than  a  relative 
weight :  in  London  I  was  lost  in  the  crowd  ;  I  ranked  with 
the  first  families  of  Lausanne,  and  my  style  of  prudent  ex- 
pense enabled  me  to  maintain  a  fair  balance  of  reciprocal 
civilities.2  3.  Instead  of  a  small  house  between  a  street  and 
a  stable-yard,3  I  began  to  occupy  a  spacious  and  convenient 
mansion,  connected  on  the  north  side  with  the  city,  and  open 

sleep  or  food,  stifled  in  a  close  room  by  the  heated  respiration  of  six  hundred 
politicians,  inflamed  by  party  and  passion,  and  tired  of  the  repetition  of  dull 
nonsense,  which,  in  that  illustrious  assembly,  so  far  outweighs  the  proportion  of 
reason  and  eloquence"  [Corres.,  ii.,  80).  Six  hundred  is  an  exaggeration. 
There  were  five  hundred  and  fifty-eight  members.  In  very  few  divisions  four 
hundred  and  fifty  voted.] 

1["  Deyverdun,  who  is  somewhat  of  an  Epicurean  philosopher,  understands 
the  management  of  a  table,  and  we  frequently  invite  a  guest  or  two  to  share  our 
luxurious,  but  not  extravagant,  repasts"  (ib. ,  ii. ,  78).  Gibbon  sent  to  London 
for  a  set  of  Wedgwood  China,  "adequate  to  a  plentiful  table".  Off  this  set 
General  Read  dined  in  1879  at  M.  de  Severy's  house  at  Mex,  near  Lausanne. 
"It  is  still  in  general  use.  Gibbon's  supply  of  table-linen  was  so  large  in 
quantity  and  excellent  in  quality  that  his  tablecloths  and  napkins  are  still  in  use  " 
[Hist.  Studies,  ii.,  479).] 

2  [Deyverdun,  in  1783,  urging  Gibbon  to  settle  at  Lausanne,  wrote  :  "  Vous 
serez  d'abord  1'homme  a  la  mode,  et  je  vois  d'ici  que  vous  soutiendrez  fort  bien 
ce  role,  sans  vous  en  facher,  dut-on  un  peu  vous  surfaire.  Je  sens  bien  que  tu  me 
Jlattes,  mais  tu  me  fais  flaisir,  est  peut-etre  le  meilleur  vers  de  Destouches  " 

{Corres.,  ii. ,  43). 

Miss  Holroyd  wrote  at  Lausanne  in  1791  :  "  It  is  a  proof  how  much  pleasure 
flattery  gives  the  most  sensible  people.  This  is  the  only  advantage  this  place 
can  have  over  England  for  Mr.  Gibbon.  However  he  is  so  much  attached  to 
the  place  and  the  people,  that  he  cannot  bear  the  slightest  joke  about  them  " 
[Girlhood  of  M.  J.  Holroyd,  p.  63). 

Gibbon  wrote  of  a  long  fit  of  the  gout  in  1785  :  "  In  London  my  confine- 
ment was  sad  and  solitary ;  the  many  forgot  my  existence  when  they  saw  me 
no  longer  at  Brookes's.  ...  I  was  proud  and  happy  if  I  could  prevail  on 
Elmsley  to  enliven  the  dulness  of  the  evening.  Here  the  objects  are  nearer, 
and  more  distinct ;  and  I  myself  am  an  object  of  much  larger  magnitude.  .  .  . 
During  three  months  I  have  had  round  my  chair  a  succession  of  agreeable  men 
and  women,  who  came  with  a  smile  and  vanished  at  a  nod"  [Corres.,  ii. ,  134). 

Malone,  one  day  in  1783,  found  Dr.  Johnson,  when  confined  by  illness, 
roasting  apples  and  reading  the  History  of  Birmingham.  "These,"  he  said, 
"are  some  of  the  solitary  expedients  to  which  we  are  driven  by  sickness" 
(Boswell's  Johnson,  iv.,  218,  ».).] 

3  [He  spoke  very  differently  of  his  house  (7,  Bentinck  Street)  when  he  took 
it.  "I  am  got  into  the  delightful  mansion,"  he  wrote  to  his  step-mother.  "  My 
own  new,  clean,  comfortable,  dear  house,  which  I  like  better  every  week  I  pass 
in  it."  "My  little  palace,  which  is  absolutely  the  best  house  in  London." 
"  Mine  own  dear  library,  and  mine  own  dear  parlour  "( Corres. ,  i.,  179,  181, 
183,  269).] 


1784] 


MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE 


219 


on  the  south  to  a  beautiful  and  boundless  horizon.1  A  garden 
of  four  acres  had  been  laid  out  by  the  taste  of  Mr.  Deyverdun  : 
from  the  garden  a  rich  scenery  of  meadows  and  vineyards  de- 
scends to  the  Leman  Lake,  and  the  prospect  far  beyond  the 
Lake  is  crowned  by  the  stupendous  mountains  of  Savoy.2  My 
books  and  my  acquaintance  had  been  first  united  in  London ; 
but  this  happy  position  of  my  library  in  town  and  country  was 
finally  reserved  for  Lausanne.  Possessed  of  every  comfort  in 
this  triple  alliance,  I  could  not  be  tempted  to  change  my 
habitation  with  the  changes  of  the  seasons.3 

1  ["  The  chosen  part  of  my  library  is  now  arrived,  and  arranged  in  a  room 
full  as  good  as  that  in  Bentinck  Street,  with  this  difference  indeed,  that  instead 
of  looking  on  a  stone  court  twelve  feet  square,  I  command,  from  three  windows 
of  plate  glass,  an  unbounded  prospect  of  many  a  league  of  vineyard,  of  fields, 
of  wood,  of  lake,  and  of  mountains  "  (Carres.,  ii.,  n8). 

Of  the  sight  of  his  books — one  of  the  most  delightful  sights  to  a  scholar — he 
intentionally  deprived  himself.  They  were  hidden  away  in  "  twenty-seven  book- 
cases or  closets,  each  with  stout  wooden  doors  and  strong  keys.  He  could  shut 
the  doors,  and  then  appear  to  be  sitting  in  a  room  without  a  single  book  "  (Read's 
Hist.  Studies,  ii. ,  493).  Johnson's  garret-library,  with  its  three-legged  elbow 
chair,  would  have  looked  more  cheerful] 

2 [See  Carres.,  ii. ,  142,  for  an  interesting  passage  where  he  says  that  Dey- 
verdun has  taught  him  to  "dwell  with  pleasure  on  the  shape  and  colour  of  the 
leaves,  the  various  hues  of  the  blossoms,  and  successive  progress  of  vegetation  ". 
Brought  up  as  he  had  mainly  been  in  the  country,  it  is  strange  that  he  required 
to  be  taught  this  lesson  when  he  was  past  fifty.] 

:i[On  July  21,  1787,  he  wrote  that  in  four  years  he  had  lain  but  a  single  night 
out  of  his  own  bed  "  (id. ,  ii. ,  156). 

Mr.  Samuel  Davey,  late  of  47,  Great  Russell  Street,  kindly  allowed  me  to  take 
a  copy  of  the  original  of  Gibbon's  bill  with  his  Lausanne  tailor  for  1784  and 
part  of  1785.  The  following  are  some  of  the  items.  The  charges  are  I  think 
in  florins  and  sols.  A  florin  was  equal  to  one  French  livre  and  a  half  according 
to  the  statement  in  D'Haussonville's  Le  Salon  de  Madame  Necker,  ii. ,  232,  that 
Necker  paid  for  Coppet  in  1784  "la  somme  de  500,000 livres  argent  de  France, 
soit  333,333  florins  6  sols  4  deniers  argent  de  Berne". 


"POUR  Mr.  GUIBONS. 

Monsieur  Guibons  doit  a  Jean  Wisard. 

Pour  Facon  et  fournitures  d'une  Cullotte  de  velour  cramoisi 
Une  paire  de  jartieres  rouges  ...... 

\  Ecarlette  pour  Col  et  parements  et  Col  de  la  redingotte 

grise 

Fourni  1  dzne  [douzaine]  \  grands  boutons  argents 

Pour  avoir  redouble'  les  pans  d'une  veste,  fourni  la  doublure 

en  soy  blanche  ...... 

Pour  Facon  d'un  habit  de  royale 

Fournitures . 

5  aue  [aunes]  royale  superfine  a  8^  iosls. 

1  aue  futaine  fine  a  25  bald  [?]  ... 

1  dzne  \  boutons  dor£s  a  35  bald  [?] 

Pour  facjon  et  fournitures  d'une  Culotte  tricotee  en  soy  noire 

Pour  Facon  et  fournitures  de  deux  vestes  de  bazaine  ray6 


F.S. 


2. 

10 

I 

3- 

3- 

1. 

10 

4- 

2. 

42. 

10 

3- 

IS 

5-5 

2. 

10 

4- 

o.' 

3 

220  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1785-87 

My  friends  had  been  kindly  apprehensive  that  I  should  not 
be  able  to  exist  in  a  Swiss  town  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps,  after 
having  so  long  conversed  with  the  first  men  of  the  first  cities 
of  the  world.1  Such  lofty  connections  may  attract  the  curious 
and  gratify  the  vain ;  but  I  am  too  modest,  or  too  proud  to 
rate  my  own  value  by  that  of  my  associates ;  and  whatsoever 
may  be  the  fame  of  learning  or  genius,  experience  has  shown 
me  that  the  cheaper  qualifications  of  politeness  and  good  sense 
are  of  more  useful  currency  in  the  commerce  of  life.  By  many, 
conversation  is  esteemed  as  a  theatre  or  a  school :  but  after 
the  morning  has  been  occupied  by  the  labours  of  the  library, 
I  wish  to  unbend  rather  than  to  exercise  my  mind  2 ;  and  in 
the  interval  between  tea  and  supper  I  am  far  from  disdaining 
the  innocent  amusement  of  a  game  at  cards.3  Lausanne  is 
peopled  by  a  numerous  gentry,  whose  companionable  idleness 
is  seldom  disturbed  by  the  pursuits  of  avarice  or  ambition  4  : 

1  [Gibbon  wrote  to  Lady  Sheffield  on  October  22,  1784  :  "  Whenever  I  used 
to  hint  my  design  of  retiring,  that  illustrious  Baron  [Sheffield],  after  a  proper 
effusion  of  damned  fools,  condescended  to  observe  that  such  an  obscure  nook  in 
Switzerland  might  please  me  in  the  ignorance  of  youth,  but  that  after  tasting  for 
so  many  years  the  various  society  of  Paris  and  London,  I  should  soon  be  tired 
with  the  dull  and  uniform  round  of  a  provincial  town"  (Corres.,  ii.,  116).] 

2["  Johnson  had  all  his  life  habituated  himself  to  consider  conversation  as  a 
trial  of  intellectual  vigour  and  skill"  (Boswell's  Johnson ,  iv.,  in).  Nevertheless 
he  said  that  "  that  is  the  happiest  conversation  where  there  is  no  competition, 
no  vanity,  but  a  calm  quiet  interchange  of  sentiments  "  (id.,  ii.,  359). 

"  Those  persons,"  writes  Burke,  "  who  creep  into  the  hearts  of  most  people, 
who  are  chosen  as  the  companions  of  their  softer  hours,  and  their  reliefs  from 
care  and  anxiety,  are  never  persons  of  shining  qualities,  nor  strong  virtues  " 
(The  Sublime  and  Beautiful,  ed.  1759,  p.  206).] 

3  ["Whist  at  shillings,  or  half-crowns,  is  the  game  I  generally  play,  and  I 
play  three  rubbers  with  pleasure"  [Misc.  Works,  ii.,  342).  Writing  in  1763  on 
"  un  Dimanche  de  Communion  "  he  says  :  "  Point  d'affaires,  point  d'assemblee  ; 
on  s'interdit  jusqu'au  whist,  si  necessaire  a  l'existence  d'un  Lausannois "  (id. , 

i.,i7i)- 

General  Read  was  shown  by  M.  de  Severy  "Gibbon's  counters  at  whist — 
eight  pieces  of  silver  of  Ludwig  [?  Ludovic]  XV.,  1731 "  (Hist.  Studies,  ii.,  483). 
Mr.   Samuel  Davey  showed  me  a  ten  of  diamonds,  on  the  back  of  which 
— on  a  ground  of  plain  white — was  written  : — 

"  Bon  pour  Cent  Livres 
a  Blondel 

E.  Gibbon 

£i°o 
Ce  11  Mai,  1786." 

Blondel  was  Gibbon's  valet.     See  Carres.,  ii. ,  124,  131.] 

4[Gibbon,  in  The  Decline,  i.,  222,  describes  the  Pays  de  Vaud  as  "a  small 
district  on  the  banks  of  the  Leman  Lake,  much  more  distinguished  for  polite- 
ness than  for  industry  ".] 


1785-87]       MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  221 

the  women,  though  confined  to  a  domestic  education,  are  en- 
dowed for  the  most  part  with  more  taste  and  knowledge  than 
their  husbands  and  brothers  l ;  but  the  decent  freedom  of  both 
sexes  is  equally  remote  from  the  extremes  of  simplicity  and 
refinement.-  I  shall  add  as  a  misfortune  rather  than  a  merit, 
that  the  situation  and  beauty  of  the  Pays  de  Vaud,  the  long 
habits  of  the  English,3  the  medical  reputation  of  Dr.  Tissot,1 
and  the  fashion  of  viewing  the  mountains  and  Glaciers-,  have 
opened  us  on  all  sides  to  the  incursions  of  foreigners.6  The 
visits  of  Mr.  and  Madame  Necker,  of  Prince  Henry  of  Prussia, 
and  of  Mr.  Fox,  may  form  some  pleasing  exceptions  ;  but,  in 
general,  Lausanne  has  appeared  most  agreeable  in  my  eyes, 
when  we  have  been  abandoned  to  our  own  society.  I  had 
frequently  seen  Mr.  Necker,  in  the  summer  of  1784,  at  a 
country  house  near  Lausanne,  where  he  composed  his 
Treatise  on  the  Administration  of  the  Finances.0  I  have 
since,  in  October   1790,  visited  him  in  his  present  residence, 

1["I1  m'a  toujours  paru  qua  Lausanne,  aussi  bien  qu'en  France,  les 
femmes  sont  tres  supeneures  aux  hommes "  [Carres.,  ii.,  46).] 

2  [For  the  mollifying  of  the  prejudice  which,  when  Gibbon  first  visited  Lau- 
sanne, "  drew  a  line  of  separation  between  the  noble  and  the  plebeian  families" 
see  Auto. ,  p.  237.  "  Of  the  Swiss,"  wrote  Miss  Holroyd,  "there  seems  to  be 
but  one  opinion,  they  certainly  do  not  possess  'les  Graces'"  {Girlhood,  etc., 

P-  79)-3 

3["  Moi  qui  aimerais  Lausanne  cent  fois  davantage,  si  j'y  pouvais  etre  le  seul 
de  ma  nation,"  he  wrote  in  1783"  (Corres.,  ii.,  38).  What  he  means  by  "  the 
long  habits  of  the  English,"  if  it  can  be  made  out,  is  ill-expressed.  In  June 
1784  there  were  "three-score  English  at  Lausanne".  In  October  he  wrote: 
"A  colony  of  English  have  taken  up  the  habit  of  spending  their  winters  at 
Nice,  and  their  summers  in  the  Pays  de  Vaud"  (ii.,  ii. ,  in,  116).] 

4  [Voltaire  mentions  him  in  his  Epitre  d  Horace  (CEuvres,  xi.,  268) : — 
"  Ainsi,  lorsqu'un  pauvre  homme,  au  fond  de  sa  chaumiere, 
En  depit  de  Tissot,  finissait  sa  carriere." 

In  a  note  he  describes  him  as  "  celebre  me^decin  de  Lausanne  ". 

In  an  attic  in  his  country-house  was  found  in  a  heap  of  waste  paper  a  long 
letter  from  Napoleon  Bonaparte  about  the  health  of  his  uncle,  dated  "  Ajaccio, 
April  1,  1787,"  endorsed  by  Tissot :  "  Lettre  non  repondue,  peu  inteYessante  " 
(Read's  Hist.  Studies,  ii.,  198).] 

B[Ante,  p.  98.  In  June  1784  there  "were  forty  French  at  Lausanne". 
The  following  October  he  was  walking  on  his  terrace  with  "a  natural  son  of 
Lewis  XV.,  the  Hereditary  Prince  of  Brunswick,  Prince  Henry  of  Prussia,  and 
a  dozen  Counts,  Barons,  and  extraordinary  persons,  among  whom  was  a  natural 
son  of  the  Empress  of  Russia"  (ii.,  ii.,  in,  115).] 

6\De  F Administration  des  Finances  de  la  France.  2  torn.  40.  Paris,  1785. 
A  translation  by  T.  Mortimer  in  3  vols.  8vo  was  published  in  London  the  same 
year  (Brit.  Mus.  Cat.).] 


222  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1785-87 

the  castle  and  barony  of  Copet,  near  Geneva.1  Of  the 
merits  and  measures  of  that  statesman  various  opinions  may 
be  entertained ;  but  all  impartial  men  must  agree  in  their 
esteem  of  his  integrity  and  patriotism. 

In  August  1784,  Prince  Henry  of  Prussia,  in  his  way  to 
Paris,  passed  three  days  at  Lausanne.  His  military  conduct 
has  been  praised  by  professional  men  ;  his  character  has  been 
vilified  by  the  wit  and  malice  of  a  demon  ;  but  I  was  nattered 
by  his  affability,  and  entertained  by  his  conversation.2 

In  his  tour  of  Switzerland  (September  1788)  Mr.  Fox  gave 
me  two  days  of  free  and  private  society.  He  seemed  to  feel, 
and  even  to  envy,  the  happiness  of  my  situation  while  I  ad- 
mired the  powers  of  a  superior  man,  as  they  are  blended  in 
his  attractive  character  with  the  softness  and  simplicity  of  a 
child.  Perhaps  no  human  being  was  ever  more  perfectly 
exempt  from  the  taint  of  malevolence,  vanity,  or  falsehood.3 

My  transmigration  from  London  to  Lausanne  could  not  be 
effected  without  interrupting  the  course  of  my  historical 
labours.  The  hurry  of  my  departure,  the  joy  of  my  arrival, 
the  delay  of  my  tools,  suspended  their  progress  ;  and  a  full 
twelvemonth  was  lost  before  I  could  resume  the  thread  of 
regular  and  daily  industry.  A  number  of  books  most  requisite 
and  least  common  had  been  previously  selected 4 ;  the  aca- 

1  [Necker  and  his  wife  had  met  Gibbon  at  Geneva.  She  wrote  to  him  of  this 
meeting:  "Je  r£unissais  dans  un  meme  lieu  .  .  .  une  des  douces  et  pures 
affections  de  ma  jeunesse  avec  celle  qui  fait  mon  sort  sur  la  terre  et  le  rend  si 
digne  d'envie.  Cette  singularity,  jointe  aux  agrements  d'une  conversation  sans 
modele,  composait  pour  moi  une  sorte  d'enchantement ;  et  la  connexion  du 
passe  et  du  present  rendait  mes  jours  semblables  a  un  songe  sorti  par  la  porte 
d'ivoire  pour  consoler  les  mortels.  Ne  voudrez-vous  pas  nous  le  faire  continuer 
encore?"  (Le  Salon  de  Madame  Necker,  ii. ,  83.) 

The  castle  is  only  a  few  miles  from  Grassy,  the  scene  of  their  early  love- 
making. 

D'Haussonville,  describing  the  castle  gate,  says:  "La  solide  armature  de 
fer  inspirait  a  mon  enfance  une  terreur  respectueuse "  (Le  Salon  de  Madame 
Necker,  i. ,  3).  One  of  the  flanking  towers  was  built  in  the  thirteenth  century. 
More  than  a  hundred  years  before  Gibbon's  visit  Bayle  had  spent  eighteen 
months  there  as  tutor  to  the  owner's  children  (ib. ,  ii. ,  222-33).  From  the  house 
could  be  seen  the  town  of  Geneva,  which  Gibbon  described  in  1783  as  "  le 
triste  sejour  du  travail  et  de  la  discorde"  (Corres.,  ii.,  39).] 

2  [See  Appendix  49.]  3  [See  Appendix,  50.] 

4  [He  had  with  him,  he  wrote,  "  more  than  two  thousand  volumes,  the  choice 
of  a  chosen  library"  (Corres.,  ii.,  124).] 


1785-87]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  223 

demical  library  of  Lausanne,  which  I  could  use  as  my  own, 
contained  at  least  the  fathers  and  councils  l  ;  and  I  have  de- 
rived some  occasional  succour  from  the  public  collections  of 
Berne  a  and  Geneva.  The  fourth  volume  was  soon  terminated 
by  an  abstract  of  the  controversies  of  the  Incarnation,  which 
the  learned  Dr.  Prideaux  was  apprehensive  of  exposing  to  pro- 
fane eyes.  It  had  been  the  original  design  of  the  learned 
Dean  Prideaux  3  to  write  the  history  of  the  ruin  of  the  Eastern 
Church.  In  this  work  it  would  have  been  necessary,  not  only 
to  unravel  all  those  controversies  which  the  Christians  made 
about  the  hypostatical  union,  but  also  to  unfold  all  the  niceties 
and  subtle  notions  which  each  sect  entei'tained  concerning  it.4 
The  pious  historian  was  apprehensive  of  exposing  that  in- 
comprehensible mystery  to  the  cavils  and  objections  of  un- 
believers :  and  he  durst  not,  "  seeing  the  nature  of  this  book, 
venture  it  abroad  in  so  wanton  and  lewd  an  age".5 

In  the  fifth  and  sixth  volumes  the  revolutions  of  the  empire 

1[To  Deyverdun  he  wrote:  "  Malheureusement  votre  bibliotheque  publique, 
en  y  ajoutant  meme  celle  de  M.  de  Bochat,  est  assez  piteuse"  (ib. ,  ii. ,  48). 
Gibbon  bequeathed  to  it  97  learned  volumes  (Read's  Historic  Studies,  i. ,  144).] 

2  [Those  from  Berne  he  got  by  irregular  means  through  a  friend  at  Berne, 
who  wrote  :  "  I  lend  myself  quite  willingly  to  the  petty  deceit  which  the  managing 
committee  of  the  Library  so  well  merits"  (ib.,  ii. ,  463).] 

3  [In  the  text  Gibbon  had  written  "  the  learned  Dr.  Prideaux,"  and  in  a  note 
"  the  learned  Dean  Prideaux  "  (Auto. ,  p.  332).  Lord  Sheffield  by  incorporating 
the  note  in  the  text  produced  the  repetition.] 

J["  I  have  already  observed  that  the  disputes  of  the  Trinity  were  succeeded 
by  those  of  the  Incarnation  ;  alike  scandalous  to  the  Church,  alike  pernicious  to 
the  State,  still  more  minute  in  their  origin,  still  more  durable  in  their  effects" 
( The  Decline,  v. ,  96).  After  speaking  of  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  ' '  the  sub- 
stantial, indissoluble  and  everlasting  union  of  a  perfect  God  with  a  perfect  man," 
Gibbon  goes  on  to  describe  the  ' '  secret  and  incurable  discord  which  was  cherished 
between  those  who  were  most  apprehensive  of  confounding,  and  those  who  were 
most  fearful  of  separating,  the  divinity  and  the  humanity  of  Christ.  .  .  .  To 
escape  from  each  other  they  wandered  through  many  a  dark  and  devious  thicket, 
till  they  were  astonished  by  the  horrid  phantoms  of  Cerinthus  and  Apollinaris, 
who  guarded  the  opposite  issues  of  the  theological  labyrinth.  As  soon  as  they 
beheld  the  twilight  of  sense  and  heresy  they  started,  measured  back  their  steps, 
and  were  again  involved  in  the  gloom  of  impenetrable  orthodoxy"  (ib. ,  v., 
105).] 

5  See  preface  to  the  Life  of  Mahomet,  p.  xxi. — Gibbon.  [Seconded.  1697, 
Preface,  p.  17.     The  Preface  is  dated  March  15,  1694. 

"  Two  professed  lives  of  Mahomet  have  been  composed  by  Dr.  Prideaux  and 
the  Count  de  Boulainvilliers  ;  but  the  adverse  wish  of  finding  an  impostor  or  an 
hero  has  too  often  corrupted  the  learning  of  the  Doctor  and  the  ingenuity  of  the 
Count"  (The  Decline,  v.,  352).] 


224  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1785-87 

and  the  world  are  most  rapid,  various,  and  instructive  ;  and 
the  Greek  or  Roman  historians  are  checked  by  the  hostile 
narratives  of  the  barbarians  of  the  East  and  the  West.1 

It  was  not  till  after  many  designs,  and  many  trials,  that  I 
preferred,  as  I  still  prefer,  the  method  of  grouping  my  picture 
by  nations  ;  and  the  seeming  neglect  of  chronological  order  is 
surely  compensated  by  the  superior  merits  of  interest  and 
perspicuity.  The  style  of  the  first  volume  is,  in  my  opinion, 
somewhat  crude  and  elaborate  ;  in  the  second  and  third  it  is 
ripened  into  ease,  correctness,  and  numbers 2  ;  but  in  the 
three  last  I  may  have  been  seduced  by  the  facility  of  my  pen, 
and  the  constant  habit  of  speaking  one  language  and  writing 
another  may  have  infused  some  mixture  of  Gallic  idioms. 
Happily  for  my  eyes,  I  have  always  closed  my  studies  with 
the  day,  and  commonly  with  the  morning  ;  and  a  long,  but 
tempei-ate,  labour  has  been  accomplished,  without  fatiguing 
either  the  mind  or  body  ;  but  when  I  computed  the  remainder 
of  my  time  and  my  task,  it  was  apparent  that,  according  to 
the  season  of  publication,  the  delay  of  a  month  would  be 
productive  of  that  of  a  year.  I  was  now  straining  for  the 
goal,  and  in  the  last  winter  many  evenings  were  borrowed 
from  the  social  pleasures  of  Lausanne.3  I  could  now  wish 
that  a  pause,  an  interval,  had  been  allowed  for  a  serious 
revisal. 

I  have  presumed  to  mark  the  moment  of  conception  4 :  I 

I I  have  followed  the  judicious  precept  of  the  Abbe  de  Mably  (Maniere 
d'ecrire  l'Histoire,  p.  no),  who  advises  the  historian  not  to  dwell  too  minutely 
on  the  decay  of  the  eastern  empire  ;  but  to  consider  the  barbarian  conquerors 
as  a  more  worthy  subject  of  his  narrative.  "  Fas  est  et  ab  hoste  doceri  "  (Ovid, 
A/eta.,  iv. ,  428). — GIBBON.     [For  Mably  see  ante,  p.  199.  ] 

^[Ante,  p.  189.] 

3 [Ante,  p.  90.  On  Jan.  20,  1787,  he  wrote  to  Lord  Sheffield:  "The 
mornings  in  winter,  and  in  a  country  of  early  dinners,  are  very  concise  ;  to 
them,  my  usual  period  of  study,  I  now  frequently  add  the  evenings,  renounce 
cards  and  society,  refuse  the  most  agreeable  evenings,  or  perhaps  make  my 
appearance  at  a  late  supper.  By  this  extraordinary  industry,  which  I  never 
practised  before,  and  to  which  I  hope  never  to  be  again  reduced,  I  see  the  last 
part  of  my  History  growing  apace  under  my  hands"  (Co/res.,  ii. ,  151).  It 
must  be  remembered  that  he  worked  all  the  year  round.  In  four  years  he  "  had 
lain  but  a  single  night  out  of  his  own  bed  "  (a?ite,  p.  219,  n.).] 

*[Ante,  p.  167.] 


1787]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  225 

shall  now  commemorate  the  hour  of  my  final  deliverance.  It 
was  on  the  day,  or  rather  night,  of  the  27th  of  June,  1787, 
between  the  hours  of  eleven  and  twelve,  that  I  wrote  the  last 
lines  of  the  last  page,  in  a  summer-house  in  my  garden. 
After  laying  down  my  pen,  I  took  several  turns  in  a  berceau, 
or  covered  walk  of  acacias,  which  commands  a  prospect  of  the 
country,  the  lake,  and  the  mountains.  The  air  was  temperate, 
the  sky  was  serene,  the  silver  orb  of  the  moon  was  reflected 
from  the  waters,  and  all  nature  was  silent.1  I  will  not  dis- 
semble the  first  emotions  of  joy  on  the  recovery  of  my  freedom, 
and,  perhaps,  the  establishment  of  my  fame.  But  my  pride 
was  soon  humbled,  and  a  sober  melancholy  was  spread  over 
my  mind,  by  the  idea  that  I  had  taken  an  everlasting  leave 
of  an  old  and  agreeable  companion,  and  that  whatsoever  might 
be  the  future  date  of  my  History,  the  life  of  the  historian 
must  be  short  and  precarious.2  I  will  add  two  facts,  which 
have  seldom  occurred  in  the  composition  of  six,  or  at  least  of 
five  quartos.3  1.  My  first  rough  manuscript,  without  any 
intermediate  copy,  has  been  sent  to  the  press.4  2.  Not  a 
sheet  has  been  seen  by  any  human  eyes,  excepting  those  of 
the  author  and  the  printer  5  ;  the  faults  and  the  merits  are 
exclusively  my  own.6 

I  cannot  help  recollecting  a  much  more  extraordinary  fact, 

1  [See  Appendix  51.] 

2  [On  Feb.  13,  1837,  Carlyle  thus  described  to  Emerson  the  completion  of 
his  French  Revolution  :  "  You,  I  hope,  can  have  little  conception  of  the  feeling 
with  which  I  wrote  the  last  word  of  it,  one  night  in  early  January,  when  the 
clock  was  striking  ten,  and  our  frugal  Scotch  supper  coming  in  !  I  did  not 
cry;  nor  I  did  not  pray  :  but  could  have  done  both"  {Carlyle  and  Emerson 
Corres.,  ed.  1883,  i.,  114).] 

"'[Ante,  pp.  190,  201.] 

4  [There  was  only  one  manuscript  of  Johnson's  Lives  of  the  Poets  (Boswell's 
Johnson,  iv. ,  36).] 

5  [His  friends  Batt  and  Deyverdun  had  read  the  first  volume,  or  part  of  it, 
in  manuscript  (Corres.,  i. ,  265).] 

6  Extract  from  Mr.  Gibbon's  Common-place  Book. 
The  IVth  Volume  of  the  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire, 

begun  March  1st,  1782 — ended  June  1784. 
The  Vth  Volume,  begun  July  1784— ended  May  1st,  1786. 
The  Vlth  Volume,  begun  May  18th,  1786 — ended  June  27th,  1787. 

These  three  volumes  were  sent  to  press  August  15th,  1787,  and  the  whole 
impression  was  concluded  April  following. — Sheffield. 

15 


226  EDWARD  GIBBON  [H87 

which  is  affirmed  of  himself  by  Retif  de  la  Br6tonne,  a  volumi- 
nous and  original  writer  of  French  novels.  He  laboured,  and 
may  still  labour,  in  the  humble  office  of  corrector  to  a  printing- 
house  ;  but  this  office  enabled  him  to  transport  an  entire 
volume  from  his  mind  to  the  press  ;  and  his  work  was  given 
to  the  public  without  ever  having  been  written  with  a  pen.1 

After  a  quiet  residence  of  four  years,  during  which  I  had 
never  moved  ten  miles  from  Lausanne,  it  was  not  without 
some  reluctance  and  terror,  that  I  undertook,  in  a  journey  of 
two  hundred  leagues,  to  cross  the  mountains  and  the  sea. 
Yet  this  formidable  adventure  was  achieved  without  danger 
or  fatigue  ;  and  at  the  end  of  a  fortnight  I  found  myself  in 
Lord  Sheffield's  house  and  library,  safe,  happy,  and  at  home.2 
The  character  of  my  friend  (Mr.  Holroyd)  had  recommended 
him  to  a  seat  in  parliament  for  Coventry,  the  command  of  a 
regiment  of  light  dragoons,  and  an  Irish  peerage.  The  sense 
and  spirit  of  his  political  writings  have  decided  the  public 
opinion  on  the  great  questions  of  our  commercial  interest  with 
America  and  Ireland. 

The  sale  of  his  Observations  on  the  American  States  was  diffu- 
sive, their  effect  beneficial  ;  the  Navigation  Act,  the  palladium 
of  Britain,  was  defended,  and  perhaps  saved,  by  his  pen  ;  and 
he  proves,  by  the  weight  of  fact  and  argument,  that  the 
mother-country  may  survive  and  flourish  after  the  loss  of 
America.3     My  friend  has  never  cultivated  the  arts  of  cora- 

1  [I  find  no  mention  of  this  in  the  Biog.  Univ.  (under  R6tif).  He  is 
described  as  "  le  plus  fecond  ecrivain  de  son  temps".  After  his  second  or 
third  book  "  il  quitta  l'imprimerie  pour  faire  des  livres".  He  used  to  roam 
the  streets  at  night.  "  Comme  il  portait  d'habitude  une  ^critoire  dans  sa  poche, 
il  s'en  allait  dcrire  ce  qu'il  avait  vu  soit  a  la  lueur  des  reVerberes,  soit  sur  les 
parapets  de  File  Saint-Louis."  At  one  time  he  was  worth  60,000  francs  ;  but 
being  ruined  by  the  Revolution  he  became  a  corrector  of  the  press.  He  died 
in  1806.     He  was  a  worthless  scoundrel  and  a  most  licentious  writer.] 

2  [In  writing  to  Lord  Sheffield  just  before  leaving  Lausanne  he  had  called 
that  town  his  home.  ' '  So  happy  do  I  feel  myself  at  home  [the  italics  are 
his],  that  nothing  but  the  strongest  calls  of  friendship  and  interest  could 
drag  me  from  hence"  '(Corres.,  ii. ,  156).  He  reached  London  on  Aug.  7, 
1787,  after  the  post  had  left,  as  he  informed  Lord  Sheffield  in  a  letter  dated 
Aug.  8  (id.,  p.  157).  To  his  step-mother  he  wrote  on  Aug.  9  :  "  I  reached 
the  Adelphi  Hotel,  Wednesday  the  8th  instant,  after  the  departure  of  the  post  " 
(ib.,  p.  158).  Apparently  he  did  not  wish  her  to  know  that  he  had  let  a  whole 
day  go  by  without  writing  to  her.] 

3  [See  Appendix  52.] 


1787]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  227 

position  1  ;  but  his  materials  are  copious  and  correct,  and  he 
leaves  on  his  paper  the  clear  impression  of  an  active  and 
vigorous  mind.  His  Observations  on  the  Trade,  Manufactures, 
and  present  State  of  Ireland,  were  intended  to  guide  the  industry, 
to  correct  the  prejudices,  and  to  assuage  the  passions  of  a 
country  which  seemed  to  forget  that  she  could  be  free  and 
prosperous  only  by  a  friendly  connection  with  Great  Britain. 
The  concluding  observations  are  written  with  so  much  ease 
and  spirit,  that  they  may  be  read  by  those  who  are  the  least 
interested  in  the  subject.2 

He  fell3  (in  1784)  with  the  unpopular  coalition;  but  his 
merit  has  been  acknowledged  at  the  last  general  election, 
1790,  by  the  honourable  invitation  and  free  choice  of  the  city 
of  Bristol.4  During  the  whole  time  of  my  residence  in  Eng- 
land I  was  entertained  at  Sheffield  Place  and  in  Downing 
Street  5  by  his  hospitable  kindness  ;  and  the  most  pleasant 
period  was  that  which  I  passed  in  the  domestic  society  of  the 
family.  In  the  larger  circle  of  the  metropolis  I  observed  the 
country  and  the  inhabitants  with  the  knowledge,  and  with- 
out the  prejudices,  of  an  Englishman ;  but  I  rejoiced  in  the 
apparent  increase  of  wealth  and  prosperity,  which  might  be 
fairly  divided  between  the  spirit  of  the  nation  and  the  wisdom 
of  the  minister.6   All  party-resentment  was  now  lost  in  oblivion  : 

1  ["  The  subordinate  beauties  of  style  and  arrangement  you  disclaim,"  Gibbon 
wrote  to  him  in  1785  (Corres.,  ii. ,  128).  In  printing  this  letter  Lord  Sheffield 
omitted  the  words  I  have  italicised  [Misc.  I  Vorks,  ii.,  378).] 

2  [See  Appendix  53.] 

3  It  is  not  obvious  from  whence  he  fell  ;  he  never  held  nor  desired  any 
office  of  emolument  whatever,  unless  his  military  commissions,  and  the  com- 
mand of  a  regiment  of  light  dragoons,  which  he  raised  himself,  and  which 
was  disbanded  on  the  peace  in  1783,  should  be  deemed  such. — Sheffield. 

[The  fall  was  the  loss  of  his  seat  for  Coventry.  Of  those  who  supported 
the  Coalition  159  fell  with  him — Fox's  Martyrs,  as  they  were  called.] 

4  [See  Appendix  54.  ] 

5  [The  preface  to  the  latter  half  of  The  Decline  is  dated  "  Downing  Street, 
May  1,  1788  ".  On  July  2,  1793,  Miss  Holroyd  wrote  that  Lord  Sheffield  "  had 
agreed  to  let  Government  have  his  house  in  Downing  Street  "  [Girlhood,  etc., 
p.  224).] 

6 [Gibbon  wrote  about  his  investments  on  Dec.  31,  1791  :  "The  three  per 
cents,  are  so  high,  and  the  country  is  in  such  a  damned  state  of  prosperity 
under  that  fellow  Pitt,  that  it  goes  against  me  to  purchase  at  such  low  interest  " 
(Corres.,  ii.,  282).  They  stood  at  90  (Ann.  Reg.,  1791,  ii. ,  no).  By  March, 
1792,  they  had  risen  to  97.  By  the  end  of  the  year  they  had  fallen  to  74  (lb. , 
1792,  ii.,  152).] 


228  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1787 

since  I  was  no  man's  rival,  no  man  was  my  enemy.  I  felt  the 
dignity  of  independence,  and  as  I  asked  no  more,  I  was 
satisfied  with  the  general  civilities  of  the  world.  The  house 
in  London  which  I  frequented  with  most  pleasure  and  assi- 
duity was  that  of  Lord  North.1  After  the  loss  of  power  and 
of  sight,2  he  was  still  happy  in  himself  and  his  friends  ;  and 
my  public  tribute  of  gratitude  and  esteem  could  no  longer  be 
suspected  of  any  interested  motive.3  Before  my  departure 
from  England,  I  was  present  at  the  august  spectacle  of  Mr. 
Hastings's  trial  in  Westminster  Hall.  It  is  not  my  province 
to  absolve  or  condemn  the  Governor  of  India  ;  but  Mr. 
Sheridan's  eloquence  demanded  my  applause  ;  nor  could  I 
hear  without  emotion  the  personal  compliment  which  he  paid 
me  in  the  presence  of  the  British  nation.4 

From  this  display  of  genius,  which  blazed  four  successive 
days,  I  shall  stoop  to  a  very  mechanical  circumstance.  As  I 
was  waiting  in  the  managers'  box,  I  had  the  curiosity  to 
inquire  of  the  short-hand  writer,  how  many  words  a  ready 
and  rapid  orator  might  pronounce  in  an  hour  ?  From  7,000 
to  7,500  was  his  answer.  The  medium  of  7,200  will  afford  120 
words  in  a  minute,  and  two  words  in  each  second.  But  this 
computation  will  only  apply  to  the  English  language. 

1  [Lord  North  in  1790  succeeded  his  father  as  Earl  of  Guilford.  He  died 
two  years  later,  a  little  after  Reynolds.  Gibbon  wrote  :  "  Lord  Guilford  and 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  !  two  of  the  men,  and  two  of  the  houses  in  London,  on 
whom  I  thejmost  relied  for  the  comforts  of  society  "  (Corres.,  ii.,  311).] 

2  [Lord  Sheffield  wrote  to  W.  Eden  on  May  10,  1787  :  "  Lord  North  has  no 
hopes  ;  he  says  he  has  no  expectations  but  of  darkness.  He  held  up  his  hand, 
and  said  he  could  not  see  it.  He  was,  however,  pleasant,  and  with  his  usual 
ability  took  up  the  questions  of  the  day  "  (Auckland  Corres. ,  i.,  418).] 

3["  Were  I  ambitious  of  any  other  Patron  than  the  Public  I  would  inscribe 
this  work  to  a  Statesman  who,  in  a  long,  a  stormy,  and  at  length  an  unfor- 
tunate administration,  had  many  political  opponents,  almost  without  a  personal 
enemy  :  who  has  retained  in  his  fall  from  power  many  faithful  and  disinterested 
friends,  and  who,  under  the  pressure  of  severe  infirmity,  enjoys  the  lively  vigour 
of  his  mind,  and  the  felicity  of  his  incomparable  temper  "  ( The  Decline,  Preface 
to  vol.  iv.  of  quarto  ed.     Ed.  Bury,  Preface,  p.  12.     See  ante,  pp.  192,  214). 

On  May  20,  1783,  Gibbon  had  written  of  him  :  "  Avec  beaucoup  d' esprit, 
et  des  qualites  tres  respectables,  notre  horame  a  la  d-marche  lente  et  le  cceur 
froid  "  (Corres.,  ii. ,  37).  On  Dec.  20  he  wrote  :  "  Lord  North  suffered  me  to 
depart  without  even  a  civil  answer  to  my  letter.  Were  I  capable  of  hating  a 
man  whom  it  is  not  easy  to  hate,  I  should  find  myself  most  amply  revenged 
by  the  insignificance  of  the  creature  in  this  mighty  revolution  of  India,"  his 
own  peculiar  department  [ii.,  p.   87).] 

4  [See  Appendix  55.] 


1788]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  229 

As  the  publication  of  my  three  last  volumes  was  the  principal 
object,  so  it  was  the  first  care  of  my  English  journey.  The 
previous  arrangements  with  the  bookseller  and  the  printer 
were  settled  in  my  passage  through  London,1  and  the  proofs, 
which  I  returned  more  correct,  were  transmitted  every  post 
from  the  press  to  Sheffield  Place.  The  length  of  the  opera- 
tion, and  the  leisure  of  the  country,  allowed  some  time  to 
review  my  manuscript.  Several  rare  and  useful  books,  the 
Assises  de  Jerusalem,2  Ramusius  de  Bello  C.  Pano,3  the  Greek 
Acts  of  the  Synod  of  Florence,4  the  Statuta  Urbis  Romae/' 
etc.  were  procured,  and  I  introduced  in  their  proper  places  the 
supplements  which  they  afforded.  The  impression  of  the 
fourth  volume  had  consumed  three  months.  Our  common 
interest  required  that  we  should  move  with  a  quicker  pace  ; 
and  Mr.  Strahan  fulfilled  his  engagement,  which  few  printers 
could  sustain,  of  delivering  every  week  three  thousand  copies 
of  nine  sheets.  The  day  of  publication  was,  however,  delayed 
that  it  might  coincide  with  the  fifty-first  anniversary  of  my 
own  birthday ;  the  double  festival  was  celebrated  by  a  cheer- 
ful literary  dinner  at  Mr.  Cadell's  house  ° ;  and  I  seemed  to 

1  [Lord  Sheffield  wrote  on  August  22,  1787  :  "  The  three  quartos  will  appear 
in  the  spring.  The  Gibbon  wrote  a  note  to  Cadell,  saying  he  hoped  he  would 
think  the  three  younger  of  equal  merit  with  the  elder  brothers,  and  equally  valu- 
able, and  thus  the  bargain  was  immediately  concluded  "  [Auckland  Corres.,  i. , 

435)-] 

2 ["No  sooner  had  Godfrey  of  Bouillon  accepted  the  office  of  supreme 
magistrate  than  he  solicited  the  public  and  private  advice  of  the  Latin  pilgrims, 
who  were  the  best  skilled  in  the  statutes  and  customs  of  Europe.  From  these 
materials,  with  the  counsel  and  approbation  of  the  patriarch  and  barons,  of  the 
clergy  and  laity,  Godfrey  composed  the  Assise  of  Jerusalem,  a  precious 
monument  of  feudal  jurisprudence"  {The  Decline,  vi. ,  317).] 

3 [In  Lord  Sheffield's  editions  and  in  the  Auto,  this  is  misprinted  "  de  Bello 
C.  Paro".  The  book  is  De  bello  Co?istantinopolitano  et  Imperatoribus  Comnenis 
per  Gallos  et  Venetos  restitutis  historia  P.  Ramnusii.  Editio  altera.  Venetiis, 
1634,  fol.    Brit.  A/us.  Cat.  sub  Rannusio,  Paolo.     See  Tlie  Decline,  vi. ,  412,  //.] 

4 [Gibbon,  after  describing  the  opening  of  the  Council  of  the  Greeks  and 
Latins  at  Ferrara  in  1438,  continues:  "It  was  only  by  the  alternative  of 
hunger  or  dispute  that  the  Greeks  could  be  persuaded  to  open  the  first  con- 
ference ;  and  they  yielded  with  extreme  reluctance  to  attend  from  Ferrara  to 
Florence  the  rear  of  a  flying  synod  "  ( The  Decline,  vii. ,  108).] 

8  [lb. ,  vii. ,  293.  ] 

a  [Gibbon  was  born  on  April  27,  O.  S.  ;  but  the  birthday  was  kept  accord- 
ing to  the  new  style,  on  May  8,  1788.  He  wrote  to  Dr.  Robertson  on  March 
26  :  "  The  important  day  is  now  fixed  to  the  eighth  of  May,  and  it  was  chosen 


230  EDWAED  GIBBON  [1788 

blush  while  they  read  an  elegant  compliment  from  Mr.  Hayley, 
whose  poetical  talents  had  more  than  once  been  employed  in 
the  praise  of  his  friend.  Before  Mr.  Hayley  inscribed  with 
my  name  his  epistles  on  history,1  I  was  not  acquainted  with 
that  amiable  man  and  elegant  poet.  He  afterwards  thanked 
me  in  verse  for  my  second  and  third  volumes ;  and  in  the 
summer  of  1781,  the  Roman  Eagle  (a  proud  title)  accepted 
the  invitation  of  the  English  Sparrow,  who  chirped  in  the 
groves  of  Eartham,  near  Chichester.2  As  most  of  the  former 
purchasers  were  naturally  desirous  of  completing  their  sets, 
the  sale  of  the  quarto  edition  was  quick  and  easy  ;  and  an 
octavo  size  3  was  printed,  to  satisfy  at  a  cheaper  rate  the  public 
demand.  The  conclusion  of  my  work  was  generally  read,  and 
variously  judged.  The  style  has  been  exposed  to  much 
academical  criticism ;  a  religious  clamour  was  revived,  and  the 
reproach  of  indecency  has  been  loudly  echoed  by  the  rigid 
censors  of  morals.  I  never  could  understand  the  clamour 
that  has  been  raised  against  the  indecency  of  my  three  last 
volumes.4  1.  An  equal  degree  of  freedom  in  the  former  part, 
especially  in  the  first  volume,  had  passed  without  reproach. 

by  Cadell,  as  it  coincides  with  the  end  of  the  fifty-first  year  of  the  author's  age. 
That  honest  and  liberal  bookseller  has  invited  me  to  celebrate  the  double  festival 
by  a  dinner  at  his  house"  (Stewart's  Robertson,  p.  366).] 

J[See  Appendix  56.] 

2  [Horace  Walpole  wrote  on  August  16,  1781  {Letters,  viii. ,  70)  :  "  I  have 
received  from  Brighthelmstone  a  long  card  in  verse,  from  Mr.  Hayley  to  Mr. 
Gibbon,  inviting  Livy  to  dine  with  Virgil". 

Cowper,  who  visited  Hayley  in  August,  1792,  thus  describes  Eartham  :  "  Here 
we  are  in  the  most  elegant  mansion  that  I  have  ever  inhabited,  and  surrounded 
by  the  most  delightful  pleasure  grounds  that  I  have  ever  seen "  (Southey's 
Cowper,  vii. ,  139). 

"  All  who  knew  Hayley,"  writes  Southey,  "  concur  in  describing  his  manners 
as  in  the  highest  degree  winning,  and  his  conversation  as  delightful  "  {lb. ,  iii. , 
66).] 

•![In  twelve  vols.,  1791.  One  in  fourteen  vols.  8vo  had  been  published  at 
Basil  in  1789  {Brit.  A/us.  Cat.).] 

4  [In  The  Gentleman  s  Magazine,  1788,  p.  475,  is  a  "Selection  from  Mr. 
Gibbon's  learned  and  entertaining  Notes  "  to  the  last  three  volumes.  In  the  next 
number  (p.  599)  a  correspondent  reproaches  the  editor  for  "sullying  his  pages 
by  those  filthy  extracts  from  a  silly  book  called  The  History  of  the  Declension 
[sic]  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire".  Some  months  later  (p.  1157)  another 
correspondent  complains  of  "  your  pure  pages  being  for  the  first  time  defiled 
with  the  filthy  rakings  of  a  celebrated  historian  ".  This  was  not  the  first  defile- 
ment of  the  magazine.  Its  early  numbers  contained  verses  as  grossly  indecent 
as  they  were  dull.  J 


1788]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  231 

2.  I  am  justified  in  painting  the  manners  of  the  times;  the 
vices  of  Theodora  x  form  an  essential  feature  in  the  reign  and 
character  of  Justinian ;  and  the  most  naked  tale  in  my  history 
is  told  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Joseph  Warton,  an  instructor  of  youth  '2 
(Essay  on  the  Genius  and  Writings  of  Pope,  pp.  322-324).  3. 
My  English  text  is  chaste,  and  all  licentious  passages  are  left 
in  the  obscurity  of  a  learned  language.3  he  Latin  dans  ses 
mots  brave  /'hun/ietefe',  says  the  correct  Boileau,4  in  a  country 
and  idiom  more  scrupulous  than  our  own.  Yet,  upon  the 
whole,  the  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  seems  to  have 
struck  root,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  and  may,  perhaps,  a 
hundred  years  hence  still  continue  to  be  abused.5  I  am  less 
flattered  by  Mr.  Porson's  high  encomium  on  the  style  and 
spirit  of  my  history,  than  I  am  satisfied  with  his  honourable 
testimony  to  my  attention,  diligence,  and  accuracy ;  those 
humble  virtues,  which  religious  zeal  had  most  audaciously 
denied.  The  sweetness  of  his  praise  is  tempered  by  a  reason- 
able mixture  of  acid.'"'  As  the  book  may  not  be  common 
in  England,  I  shall  transcribe  my  own  character  from  the 
Bibliotheca  Historica  of  Meuselius,  a  learned  and  laborious 
German.  "  Summis  aevi  nostri  historicis  Gibbonus  sine  dubio 
adnumerandus  est.  Inter  Capitolii  ruinas  stans  primum  hujus 
operis  scribendi  consilium  cepit.     Florentissimos  vitae  annos 

1  [The  Decline,  iv. ,  212.] 

2  [Headmaster  of  Winchester  College. 

"Should  the  licentiousness  of  the  tale  be  questioned,  I  may  exclaim  with 
poor  Sterne,  that  it  is  hard  if  I  may  not  transcribe  with  caution  what  a  Bishop 
could  write  without  scruple  !  "  (77?.?  Decline,  vi.,  173.)] 

3 [Gibbon,  writing  of  Theodora,  says:  "Her  murmurs,  her  pleasures,  and 
her  arts  must  be  veiled  in  the  obscurity  of  a  learned  language"  (The  Decline, 
iv. ,  213).  He  is  parodied  in  the  Anti-Jacobin,  No.  xxiii.  :  "  For  the  osculation, 
or  kissing  of  circles  and  other  curves  see  Huygens,  who  has  veiled  this  delicate 
and  inflammatory  subject  in  the  decent  obscurity  of  a  learned  language". 

"  Comme  Bayle,  il  [Gibbon]  se  delecte  (mais  toujours  en  note)  a  la  citation 
de  quelques  passages  d'une  obsc^nite'  Erudite  et  froide,  et  il  les  commente  avec 
une  elegance  recherchee  (voir  ce  qu'il  dit  sur  Theodora)  "  (Sainte-Beuve, 
Causeries,  viii.,  459).] 

4  ["  Le  Latin  dans  les  mots  brave  l'honnetete' : 
Mais  le  lecteur  Francais  veut  etre  respects  : 
Du  moindre  sens  impur  la  liberty  l'outrage, 
Si  la  pudeur  des  mots  n'en  adoucit  1'image." 

(L'Art  Podtique,  ii. ,  175.)] 

5  [See  Appendix  57.  ]  6  [See  Appendix  58.  ] 


232  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1788 

colligendo  et  laborando  eidem  impendit.  Enatum  hide 
monumentum  aere  perennius,  licet  passim  appareant  sinistre 
dicta,  minus  perfecta,  veritati  non  satis  consentanea.  Videmus 
quidem  ubique  fere  studium  scrutandi  veritatemque  scribendi 
maximum:  tamen  sine  Tillemontio l  duce  ubi  scilicet  hujus 
historia  finitur  saepius  noster  titubat  atque  hallucinatur.  Quod 
vel  maxime  fit  ubi  de  rebus  Ecclesiasticis  vel  de  juris  prudentia 
Romana  (torn,  iv.)  tradit,  et  in  aliis  locis.  Attamen  na?vi  hujus 
generis  haud  impediunt  quo  minus  operis  summam  et  oiKovofxiav 
praeclare  dispositam,  delectum  rerum  sapientissimum,  argutum 
quoque  interdum,  dictionemque  seu  stylum  historico  a?que  ac 
philosopho  dignissimum,  et  vix  a  quoque  alio  Anglo,  Humio 
ac  Robertsono  haud  exceptis  prasrepto  (prcereptum  ?)  vehe- 
menter  laudemus,  atque  saeculo  nostro  de  hujusmodi  historia 
aratulemur  .  .  .  Gibbonus  adversarios  cum  in  turn  extra 
patriam  nactus  est,  quia  propagationem  religionis  Christiana?, 
non,  ut  vulgo,  fieri  solet,  aut  more  Theologorum,  sed  ut 
Historicum  et  Philosophum  decet,  exposuerat." 

The  French,  Italian,  and  German  translations  have  been 
executed  with  various  success  ;  but,  instead  of  patronising, 
I  should  willingly  suppress  such  imperfect  copies,  which  injure 
the  character,  while  they  propagate  the  name  of  the  author. 
The  first  volume  had  been  feebly,  though  faithfully,  translated 
into  French  by  M.  Le  Clerc  de  Septchenes,  a  young  gentle- 
man of  a  studious  character  and  liberal  fortune.2  After  his 
decease  the  work  was  continued  by  two  manufacturers  of 
Paris,  MM.   Desmuniers3  and  Cantwell4:   but  the  former  is 

1  [Gibbon  records  in  The  Decline,  v.,  132,  under  date  of  A.D.  514:  "  Here  I 
must  take  leave  for  ever  of  that  incomparable  guide  [Tillemont] — whose  bigotry 
is  overbalanced  by  the  merits  of  erudition,  diligence,  veracity,  and  scrupulous 
minuteness.  He  was  prevented  by  death  from  completing,  as  he  designed, 
the  sixth  century  of  the  Church  and  Empire  "  (see  ante,  pp.  182,  183,  n.).] 

2  [See  Appendix  59.] 

'•'•  [Count  Jean  Nicolas  D£meunier.  In  the  summer  of  1792  he  escaped  to 
America,  returning  to  France  in  1796  {Dictionnaire  des  Parlemenlaires  Francais, 
1890,  p.  332).] 

4  [Andre"  S.  M.  Cantwel.  "  Traduttore  traditore,  disent  les  Italiens.  M. 
QueYard,  appliquant  cet  adage  a  Cantwel,  accuse  ce  traducteur  aussi  laborieux 
qu' inexact  des  trahisons  suivantes  de  l'anglais  [Here  follows  a  list  of  transla- 
tions]. Cantwel  a  travaille'  en  collaboration  avec  Marinte  a  la  traduction  " 
{Noicv.  Biog.  Ge"n.,  1854).] 


1788]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  233 

now  an  active  member  in  the  national  assembly,  and  the 
undertaking  languishes  in  the  hands  of  his  associate.  The 
superior  merit  of  the  interpreter,  or  his  language,  inclines  me 
to  prefer  the  Italian  version :  but  I  wish  that  it  were  in  my  power 
to  read  the  German,  which  is  praised  by  the  best  judges. 
The  Irish  pirates  are  at  once  my  friends  and  my  enemies.1 
But  I  cannot  be  displeased  with  the  too  numerous  and  correct 
impressions  which  have  been  published  for  the  use  of  the 
continent  at  Basil  in  Switzerland.'-'  The  conquests  of  our 
language  and  literature  are  not  confined  to  Europe  alone,  and 
a  writer  who  succeeds  in  London  is  speedily  read  on  the  banks 
of  the  Delaware  and  the  Ganges." 

In  the  preface  of  the  fourth  volume,  while  I  gloried  in  the 
name  of  an  Englishman,  I  announced  my  approaching  return 
to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Lake  of  Lausanne.4  This  last 
trial  confirmed  my  assurance  that  I  had  wisely  chosen  for  my 
own  happiness  ;  nor  did  I  once,  in  a  year's  visit,  entertain  a 
wish  of  settling  in  my  native  country.  Britain  is  the  free  and 
fortunate  island  ;  but  where  is  the  spot  in  which  I  could 
unite  the  comforts  and  beauties  of  my  establishment  at  Lau- 
sanne ?  The  tumult  of  London  astonished  my  eyes  and  ears  ; 
the  amusements  of  public  places  were  no  longer  adequate 
to  the  trouble  ;  the  clubs  and  assemblies  were  filled  with  new 
faces  and  young   men ;  and  our   best   society,   our  long  and 

1  [Ante,  p.  195.] 

2  Of  their  fourteen  octavo  volumes,  the  two  last  include  the  whole  body  of 
the  notes.  The  public  importunity  had  forced  me  to  remove  them  from  the 
end  of  the  volume  to  the  bottom  of  the  page  ;  but  I  have  often  repented  of  my 
compliance. — Gibbon. 

[Hume,  on  receiving  the  present  of  vol.  i.,  wrote  to  Strahan  :  "One  is 
plagued  with  his  notes,  according  to  the  present  method  of  printing  the  book. 
When  a  note  is  announced,  you  turn  to  the  end  of  the  volume  ;  and  there  you 
often  find  nothing  but  the  reference  to  an  authority.  All  these  authorities  ought 
only  to  be  printed  at  the  margin  or  the  bottom  of  the  page  "  {Letters  to  Strahan, 

P-  3!4)-] 

3["  Boswell's  writings,"  wrote  Macaulay,  "are  read  beyond  the  Mississippi, 
and  under  the  Southern  Cross "  {Misc.  Writings,  ed.  1871,  p.  387).  The 
western  boundary  of  literature,  which  in  less  than  seventy  years  was  thus  ex- 
tended from  the  Delaware  to  beyond  the  Mississippi,  would  now  have  to  be 
carried  to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  while  the  eastern  boundary  has  already 
reached  Japan.] 

4  [See  Appendix  60.] 


234  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1788 

late  dinners,  would  soon  have  been  prejudicial  to  my  health.1 
Without  any  share  in  the  political  wheel,  I  must  be  idle  and 
insignificant  :  yet  the  most  splendid  temptations  would  not 
have  enticed  me  to  engage  a  second  time  in  the  servitude  of 
Parliament  or  office.  At  Tunbridge,  some  weeks  after  the 
publication  of  my  History,  I  reluctantly  quitted  Lord  and 
Lady  Sheffield,'2  and,  with  a  young  Swiss  friend,3  whom  I  had 
introduced  to  the  English  world,  I  pursued  the  road  of  Dover 
and  Lausanne.  My  habitation  was  embellished  in  my  absence, 
and  the  last  division  of  books,  which  followed  my  steps,  in- 
creased my  chosen  library  to  the  number  of  between  six  and 
seven  thousand  volumes.'1  My  seraglio  was  ample,  my  choice 
was  free,  my  appetite  was  keen.  After  a  full  repast  on  Homer 
and  Aristophanes,  I  involved  myself  in  the  philosophic  maze 
of  the  writings  of  Plato,  of  which  the  dramatic  is,  perhaps, 
more  interesting  than  the  argumentative  part  :  but  I  stepped 
aside  into  every  path  of  inquiry  which  reading  or  reflection 
accidentally  opened.5 


![In  1783  he  wrote:  "  La  temperance  d'un  repas  Anglais  vous  permet  de 
gouter  de  cinq  ou  six  vins  differens,  et  vous  ordonne  de  boire  une  bouteille  de 
claret  apres  le  dessert  "  (Carres.,  ii. ,  46).] 

2  [Lord  Sheffield  wrote  on  July  29,  1788  :  "  Alas  !  we  are  just  returned  from 
attending  The  Gibbon  towards  Dover.  After  passing  a  year  with  us  at  Sheffield 
Place  and  Downing  Street,  he  is  gone  to  what  he  calls  home.  He  has  taken 
with  him  all  his  books,  and  talks  of  visiting  England  occasionally.  .  .  .  My 
lady  and  I  accompanied  him  to  Tunbridge  Wells,  where  we  passed  three  days 
with  Lord  North"  (Auckland  Carres.,  ii.,  220).  Gibbon  is  often  spoken  of  as 
"  The  Gibbon  "  or  "  Le  Gibbon  ".] 

3  M.  Wilhelm  de  Severy. — Sheffield.  [He  came  to  England  in  Nov.  1787, 
and  was  placed  by  Gibbon  at  school  to  learn  English.  The  youth  felt  parting 
with  his  protector;  "  mais  au  plus  fort  de  son  abattement,  lorsque,  pour 
derniere  consolation,  je  lui  ai  propose  de  retourner  a  Lausanne,  il  m'a  r^pondu 
du  ton  le  plus  fier,  Plutdt  mourir" .  Gibbon,  in  writing  to  his  father,  spoke  of 
him  as  "  notre  fils,"  "  notre  enfant  ".  He  left  him  by  his  will  ,£3,000,  and  his 
furniture,  plate,  etc.,  at  Lausanne  (Misc.  Works,  i. ,  427  ;  ii. ,  409,  415,  423,  and 
post,  p.  268).] 

4  [See  Appendix  61.] 

5  [Writing  on  Oct.  12,  1790,  of  his  endeavour  "to  find  out  some  occupation 
more  invigorating  than  mere  reading  can  afford,"  he  continued:  "But  the 
remembrance  of  a  servitude  of  twenty  years  frightened  me  from  again  engaging 
in  a  long  undertaking  which  I  might  probably  never  finish.  It  would  be  better, 
I  thought,  to  select  from  the  historical  monuments  of  all  ages  and  all  nations 
such  subjects  as  might  be  treated  separately.  When  these  little  works,  which 
might  be  entitled  Historical  Excursions,  amounted  to  a  volume,  I  would  offer 


1789]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  235 

Alas  !  the  joy  of  my  return,  and  my  studious  ardour,  were 
soon  clamped  by  the  melancholy  state  of  my  friend  Mr.  Dey- 
verdun.1  His  health  and  spirits  had  long  suffered  a  gradual 
decline,  a  succession  of  apoplectic  fits  announced  his  dissolu- 
tion ;  and  before  he  expired,  those  who  loved  him  could  not 
wish  for  the  continuance  of  his  life.  The  voice  of  reason 
might  congratulate  his  deliverance,  but  the  feelings  of  nature 
and  friendship  could  be  subdued  only  by  time  :  his  amiable 
character  was  still  alive  in  my  remembrance  ;  each  room, 
each  walk,  was  imprinted  with  our  common  footsteps  ;  and  I 
should  blush  at  my  own  philosophy,  if  a  long  interval  of  study 
had  not  preceded  and  followed  the  death  of  my  friend.  By 
his  last  will  he  left  to  me  the  option  of  purchasing  his  house 
and  garden,  or  of  possessing  them  during  my  life,  on  the 
payment  either  of  a  stipulated  price,  or  of  an  easy  retribution 
to  his  kinsman  and  heir.  I  should  probably  have  been 
tempted  by  the  demon  of  property,  if  some  legal  difficulties 
had  not  been  started  against  my  title  '2 ;  a  contest  would  have 
been  vexatious,  doubtful,  and  invidious  ;  and  the  heir  most 
gratefully  subscribed  an  agreement,  which  rendered  my  life- 
possession  more  perfect,  and  his  future  condition  more  ad  van- 
it  to  the  public  ;  and  the  present  might  be  repeated,  until  either  the  public  or 
myself  were  tired  "  (Misc.    Works,  iii. ,  354). 

On  Jan.  6,  1793,  he  wrote  that  he  had  long  thought  of  writing  "  the  Lives, 
or  rather  the  Characters,  of  the  most  eminent  Persons  in  Arts  and  Arms,  in 
Church  and  State,  who  have  flourished  in  Britain  from  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. 
to  the  present  age"  (ib. ,  i.,  391). 

Four  days  after  his  death  John  Pinkerton  wrote  to  John  Nichols  :  "In  July 
last  Mr.  Gibbon  was  pleased  to  call  me  in  as  his  coadjutor  in  a  design  he 
meditated  of  publishing  all  the  early  English  historians  in  ten  or  twelve  volumes 
folio  "  (Nichols's  Lit.  Hist.,  v.,  676).] 

1  [He  died  on  July  4,  1789.  "  I  fancied,"  wrote  Gibbon,  "that  time  and 
reflection  had  prepared  me  for  the  event ;  but  the  habits  of  three  and  thirty 
years'  friendship  are  not  so  easily  broken.  The  first  days,  and  more  especially 
the  first  nights,  were  indeed  painful"  (Corres.,  ii.,  194).  By  his  will  of  1788 
Gibbon  had  bequeathed  to  him  the  life-interest  of  ^4,000  (Auto.,  p.  421).] 

2 ["There  is  a  law  in  this  country,  as  well  as  in  some  provinces  of  France, 
which  is  styled  le  droit  de  retrait,  le  retrait  lignager,  by  which  the  relations  of 
the  deceased  are  entitled  to  redeem  a  house  or  estate  at  the  price  for  which  it 
has  been  sold  ;  and  as  the  sum  fixed  by  poor  Deyverdun  is  much  below  its 
known  value,  a  crowd  of  competitors  are  beginning  to  start.  The  best  opinions 
(for  they  are  divided)  are  in  my  favour,  that  I  am  not  subject  to  le  droit  de 
retrait,  since  I  take,  not  as  a  purchaser,  but  as  a  legatee  "  (Corres.,  ii.,  202).] 


236  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1789-93 

tageous.1  Yet  I  had  often  revolved  the  judicious  lines  in 
which  Pope  answers  the  objections  of  his  long-sighted  friend  : 

Pity  to  build  without  or  child  [a  son]  or  wife ; 
Why,  you'll  enjoy  it  only  all  your  life  : 
Well,  if  the  use  be  mine,  does  [can]  it  concern  one, 
Whether  the  name  belong  to  Pope  or  Vernon  ? 2 

The  certainty  of  my  tenure  has  allowed  me  to  lay  out  a  con- 
siderable sum  in  improvements  and  alterations :  they  have 
been  executed  with  skill  and  taste  ;  and  few  men  of  letters, 
perhaps,  in  Europe,  are  so  desirably  lodged  as  myself.  But  I 
feel,  and  with  the  decline  of  years  I  shall  more  painfully  feel, 
that  I  am  alone  in  Paradise.3  Among  the  circle  of  my 
acquaintance  at  Lausanne,  I  have  gradually  acquired  the  solid 
and  tender  friendship  of  a  respectable  family 4 :  the  four 
persons  of  whom  it  is  composed  are  all  endowed  with  the 
virtues  best  adapted  to  their  age  and  situation ;  and  I  am  en- 
couraged to  love  the  parents  as  a  brother,  and  the  children  as 
a  father.  Every  day  we  seek  and  find  the  opportunities  of 
meeting  :  yet  even  this  valuable  connection  cannot  supply  the 
loss  of  domestic  society. 

1  [Cor res. ,  ii.,  202.] 

2 [Pope,  Iniit.  Hor.  Sat.,  ii. ,  2,  163.  "  How  often,"  Gibbon  wrote,  "did 
I  repeat  to  myself  the  philosophical  lines  of  Pope,  which  seem  to  determine  the 
question  !"  (Corres.,  ii. ,  195.)] 

3  ["July  25,  1789.  The  prospect  before  me  is  a  melancholy  solitude.  .  .  . 
I  have  conceived  a  romantic  idea  of  educating  and  adopting  Charlotte  Porten 
[his  cousin] ;  as  we  descend  into  the  vale  of  years  our  infirmities  require  some 
domestic  female  society.  Charlotte  would  be  the  comfort  of  my  age,  and  I 
could  reward  her  care  and  tenderness  with  a  decent  fortune  "  (id,,  ii. ,  200). 
Her  mother  would  not  part  with  her  (ib.,  p.  221). 

"  May  15,  1790.  Since  the  loss  of  poor  Deyverdun  I  am  alone ;  and  even 
in  Paradise  solitude  is  painful  to  a  social  mind.  .  .  .  Some  expedient,  even  the 
most  desperate,  must  be  embraced,  to  secure  the  domestic  society  of  a  male  or 
female  companion  "  (ib.,  p.  215). 

"Aug.  7,  1790.  Sometimes,  in  a  solitary  mood,  I  have  fancied  myself 
married  to  one  or  another  of  those  whose  society  and  conversation  are  the  most 
pleasing  to  me  ;  but  when  I  have  painted  in  my  fancy  all  the  probable  conse- 
quences of  such  an  union,  I  have  started  from  my  dream,  rejoiced  in  my  escape, 
and  ejaculated  a  thanksgiving  that  I  was  still  in  possession  of  my  natural 
freedom  "  (ib. ,  p.  220).] 

4  The  family  of  de  Severy.— Sheffield.  [On  Nov.  10,  1792,  when  the  father 
of  the  family  was  dying,  Gibbon  wrote  that  his  death  "  would  break  for  ever 
the  most  perfect  system  of  domestic  happiness,  in  which  I  had  so  large  and 
intimate  a  share"  (Corres.,  ii.,  336).     Seepos/,  p.  269.] 


1789-93]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  237 

Within  the  last  two  or  three  years  our  tranquillity  has  been 
clouded  by  the  disorders  of  France  :  many  families  of  Lausanne 
were  alarmed  and  affected  by  the  terrors  of  an  impending 
bankruptcy ;  but  the  revolution,  or  rather  the  dissolution 
of  the  kingdom,  has  been  heard  and  felt  in  the  adjacent 
lands.1 

I  beg  leave  to  subscribe  my  assent  to  Mr.  Burke's  creed  on 
the  revolution  of  France.2  I  admire  his  eloquence,  I  approve 
his  politics,  I  adore  his  chivalry,  and  I  can  almost  excuse  his 
reverence  for  church  establishments.3  I  have  sometimes 
thought  of  writing  a  dialogue  of  the  dead,  in  which  Lucian, 
Erasmus,  and  Voltaire  should  mutually  acknowledge  the 
danger  of  exposing  an  old  superstition  to  the  contempt  of  the 
blind  and  fanatic  multitude.4 

A  swarm  of  emigrants  of  both  sexes,  who  escaped  from  the 
public  ruin,  has  been  attracted  by  the  vicinity,  the  manners, 
and  the  language  of  Lausanne  ;  and  our  narrow  habitations  in 
town  and  country  are  now  occupied  by  the  first  names  and 
titles  of  the  departed  monarchy.  These  noble  fugitives  are 
entitled  to  our  pity ;  they  may  claim  our  esteem,  but  they 
cannot,  in  their  present  state  of  mind  and  fortune,  much  con- 

1  [See  Appendix  62.] 

2  [We  are  reminded  of  Burke's  brother-candidate  at  Bristol  in  1774,  who,  at 
the  end  of  one  of  the  orator's  speeches,  exclaimed  earnestly  :  "  I  say  ditto  to 
Mr.  Burke— I  say  ditto  to  Mr.  Burke  "  (Prior's  Burke,  ed.  1872,  p.  152).] 

3  [See  Appendix  63.] 

4  ["  The  various  modes  of  worship  which  prevailed  in  the  Roman  world  were 
all  considered  by  the  people  as  equally  true,  by  the  philosopher  as  equally  false, 
and  by  the  magistrate  as  equally  useful.  .  .  .  We  may  be  well  assured  that  a 
writer  conversant  with  the  world  [like  Lucian]  would  never  have  ventured  to 
expose  the  gods  of  his  country  to  public  ridicule,  had  they  not  already  been  the 
objects  of  secret  contempt  among  the  polished  and  enlightened  orders  of 
society"  {The  Decline,  i.,  28,  30). 

"  The  great  and  incomprehensible  secret  of  the  universe  eludes  the  enquiry 
of  man.  Where  reason  cannot  instruct,  custom  may  be  permitted  to  guide  ; 
and  every  nation  seems  to  consult  the  dictates  of  prudence  by  a  faithful  attach- 
ment to  those  rites  and  opinions  which  have  received  the  sanction  of  ages  "  {id., 
iii.,  192). 

Sainte-Beuve,  after  quoting  the  passage  in  the  text,  continues  :  "  Tous  ces 
retours  de  Gibbon  sont  sans  doute  exclusivement  dans  un  inteYet  politique  et 
social,  et  ses  paroles  trouvent  encore  moyen  de  s'y  impregner  d'un  secret  m^pris 
pour  ce  qu'il  ne  sent  pas.  Ne  lui  demandez  pas  plus  de  chaleur  ni  de  sym- 
pathie  pour  cet  ordre  de  sentiments  ou  de  vented  ;  il  a  du  lettre  chinois  dans  sa 
maniere  d'apprecier  les  religions  "  {Causeries,  viii. ,  433).  J 


238  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1789-93 

tribute  to  our  amusement.1  Instead  of  looking  down  as  calm 
and  idle  spectators  on  the  theatre  of  Europe,  our  domestic 
harmony  is  somewhat  embittered  by  the  infusion  of  party 
spirit :  our  ladies  and  gentlemen  assume  the  character  of  self- 
taught  politicians  ;  and  the  sober  dictates  of  wisdom  and  ex- 
perience are  silenced  by  the  clamour  of  the  triumphant 
democrates.2  The  fanatic  missionaries  of  sedition  have  scattered 
the  seeds  of  discontent  in  our  cities  and  villages,  which  had 
flourished  above  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  without  fearing 
the  approach  of  war,  or  feeling  the  weight  of  government. 
Many  individuals,  and  some  communities,  appear  to  be  in- 
fested with  the  Gallic  phrenzy,  the  wild  theories  of  equal  and 
boundless  freedom  3 ;  but  I  trust  that  the  body  of  the  people 
will  be  faithful  to  their  sovereign  and  to  themselves ;  and  I 
am  satisfied  that  the  failure  or  success  of  a  revolt  would  equally 
terminate  in  the  ruin  of  the  country.  While  the  aristocracy 
of  Berae  protects  the  happiness,  it  is  superfluous  to  enquire 
whether  it  be  founded  in  the  rights  of  man  4  ;  the  economy  of 

1  [Miss  Holroyd  wrote  at  Lausanne  in  1791  :  "  There  is  a  very  pleasant  set 
of  French  here ;  but  we  live  entirely  with  the  Severys  and  Mr.  G.'s  set,  which 
is  certainly  not  equally  pleasant.  The  French  and  Swiss  do  not  take  to  one 
another  at  all.  .  .  .  Mr.  Gibbon  dislikes  the  French  very  much,  which  is 
nothing  but  Swiss  prejudice,  of  which  he  has  imbibed  a  large  quantity  "  (Girl- 
hood, etc.,  pp.  63,  73).] 

2  ["  Dec.  28,  1791.  Praised  be  the  Lord  !  we  are  infested  with  few  foreigners, 
either  French  or  English.  Even  our  Democrates  are  more  reasonable  or  more 
discreet ;  it  is  agreed  to  waive  the  subject  of  politics,  and  we  all  seem  happy 
and  cordial  "  (Corres.,  ii. ,  279). 

Romilly  describes  in  1781  how  the  factions  had  "  hurt  the  society  of  Geneva. 
Politics  had  engrossed  what  before  was  given  to  literature  "  (Life  of  Romilly,  ed. 
1840,  i.,  56).] 

3  ["  In  a  civilised  state  every  faculty  of  man  is  expanded  and  exercised  ;  and 
the  great  chain  of  mutual  dependence  connects  and  embraces  the  several 
members  of  society.  The  most  numerous  portion  of  it  is  employed  in  constant 
and  useful  labour.  The  select  few,  placed  by  fortune  above  that  necessity,  can, 
however,  fill  up  their  time  by  the  pursuits  of  interest  or  glory,  by  the  improve- 
ment of  their  estate  or  of  their  understanding,  by  the  duties,  the  pleasures,  and 
even  the  follies  of  social  life  "  ( The  Decline,  i. ,  221).  "  The  distinctions  of  ranks 
and  persons  is  the  firmest  basis  of  a  mixed  and  limited  government  "  (ib. ,  iv. ,  470). 

"  If  you  begin  to  improve  the  constitution,  you  may  be  driven  step  by  step 
from  the  disfranchisement  of  Old  Sarum  to  the  King  in  Newgate,  the  Lords 
voted  useless,  the  Bishops  abolished,  and  a  House  of  Commons  without  articles 
(sans  culottes)  "  (Corres.,  ii. ,  347).     See  also  ib. ,  p.  356.] 

4  [In  1785  he  wrote  :  "  There  is  nothing  pleases  me  so  much  in  this  country 
as  to  enjoy  all  the  blessings  of  a  good  government  without  ever  talking  or  think- 
ing of  our  governors"  (Corres.,  ii.,  131).     This  doctrine  Gibbon  enforces  in  the 


1789-93]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  239 

the  state  is  liberally  supplied  without  the  aid  of  taxes ;  and 
the  magistrates  must  reign  with  prudence  and  equity,  since 
they  are  unarmed  in  the  midst  of  an  armed  nation.1 

The  revenue  of  Berne,  excepting  some  small  duties,  is  de- 
rived from  church  lands,  tithes,  feudal  rights,  and  interest  of 
money.  The  republic  has  nearly  .500,0001.  sterling  in  the 
English  funds,  and  the  amount  of  their  treasure  is  unknown 
to  the  citizens  themselves.  For  myself  (may  the  omen  be 
averted)  I  can  only  declare,  that  the  first  stroke  of  a  rebel 
drum  would  be  the  signal  of  my  immediate  departure.2 

When  I  contemplate  the  common  lot  of  mortality,  I  must 
acknowledge  that  I  have  drawn  a  high  prize  in  the  lottery  of 
life.  The  far  greater  part  of  the  globe  is  overspread  with 
barbarism  or  slavery  :  in  the  civilized  world,  the  most  numerous 
class  is  condemned  to  ignorance  and  poverty  3  ;  and  the  double 
fortune  of  my  birth  in  a  free  and  enlightened  country,  in  an 
honourable4  and  wealthy  family,  is  the  lucky  chance  of  an 
unit  against  millions.5  The  general  probability  is  about  three 
to  one,  that  a  new-born  infant  will  not  live  to  complete  his 
fiftieth  year.6     I  have  now  passed   that  age,  and  may  fairly 

Decline  (i. ,  78).  "  If  a  man,"  he  writes,  "  were  called  to  fix  the  period  in  the 
history  of  the  world  during  which  the  condition  of  the  human  race  was  most 
happy  and  prosperous,  he  would,  without  hesitation,  name  that  which  elapsed 
from  the  death  of  Domitian  to  the  accession  of  Commodus.  The  vast  extent  of 
the  Roman  empire  was  governed  by  absolute  power  under  the  guidance  of 
virtue  and  wisdom."  Nevertheless  the  historian  sees  "  in  the  public  felicity  the 
latent  causes  of  decay  and  corruption.  This  long  peace,  and  the  uniform 
government  of  the  Romans,  introduced  a  slow  and  secret  poison  into  the  vitals 
of  the  empire.  The  minds  of  men  were  gradually  reduced  to  the  same  level* 
the  fire  of  genius  was  extinguished,  and  even  the  military  spirit  evaporated  " 
(»*..  p.  56).] 

1  [See  Appendix  64.] 

2  [His  departure  was  caused  by  the  death  of  Lady  Sheffield,  "  whom  I  had 
known,"  he  wrote,  "and  loved  above  three  and  twenty  years,  and  whom  I 
often  styled  by  the  endearing  name  of  sister  "  (Corres.,  ii. ,  378).  She  died  on 
April  3,  1793  ;  the  news  reached  him  on  April  26.  He  started  on  May  9  ;  but 
having  to  avoid  the  seat  of  war,  he  did  not  reach  England  till  about  June  1  (id., 
PP-  377.  379.  384).     For  the  dangers  that  he  ran  see  post,  p.  248.] 

3  [See  Appendix  65.] 

4  [His  grandfather  had  dishonoured  himself  as  a  South  Sea  Director  (ante, 
p.  19.] 

5  [Ante,  p.  26.] 

6  See  Buffon,  Supplement  a  V Histoire  Naturelle  [ed.  1777],  torn.  vii.  [iv.],  pp. 
158-164.  Of  a  given  number  of  new-born  infants  one  half,  by  the  fault  of  nature 
or  man,  is  extinguished  before  the  age  of  puberty  and  reason.  A  melancholy 
calculation  ! — Gibbon.     [See  ante,  p.  29.] 


240  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1789-93 

estimate  the  present  value  of  my  existence  in  the  three-fold 
division  of  mind,  body,  and  estate. 

1.  The  first  and  indispensable  requisite  of  happiness  is  a 
clear  conscience,  unsullied  by  the  reproach  or  remembrance  of 
an  unworthy  action. 

Hie  murus  aheneus  esto 


Nil  conscire  sibi,  nulla  pallescere  culpa.1 

I  am  endowed  with  a  cheerful  temper,2  a  moderate  sensi- 
bility, and  a  natural  disposition  to  repose  rather  than  to 
activity 3 :  some  mischievous  appetites  and  habits  have  per- 
haps been  corrected  by  philosophy  or  time.  The  love  of  study, 
a  passion  which  derives  fresh  vigour  from  enjoyment,  supplies 
each  day,  each  hour,  with  a  perpetual  source  of  independent 
and  rational  pleasure  4  ;  and  I  am  not  sensible  of  any  decay 
of  the  mental  faculties.5  The  original  soil  has  been  highly 
improved  by  cultivation ;  but  it  may  be  questioned,  whether 
some  flowers  of  fancy,  some  grateful  errors,  have  not  been 
eradicated   with   the   weeds   of  prejudice.      2.  Since   I   have 

1  [Horace,  Epis.,  i.,  i.,  59. 

' '  Be  this  thy  brazen  bulwark  of  defence, 
Still  to  preserve  thy  conscious  innocence, 
Nor  e'er  turn  pale  with  guilt." 

(Francis. ) 
For  Sir  Robert  Walpole's  misquotation  of  these  lines  in  the  House  ("nulli 
pallescere  culpae,"  he  said),  and  the  guinea  which  he  lost  to  Pulteney  by  wager- 
ing that  he  was  right,  see  Coxe's  Walpole,  ed.  1798,  i.,  644.] 

2  [He  boasted  of  his  "  propensity  to  view  and  to  enjoy  every  object  in  the 
most  favourable  light  "  (Corres. ,  ii.,  88).  Perhaps  he  derived  this  from  his  aunt, 
Miss  Porten,  who  had,  he  wrote,  "a  most  invaluable  happiness  of  temper, 
which  showed  her  the  agreeable  or  comfortable  side  of  every  object  and  every 
situation  "  (Misc.    Works,  ii. ,  392). 

"  His  physician,  Dr.  Scholl,"  writes  General  Read,  "  who  died  in  1835,  al- 
ways spoke  of  his  '  tranquille,  bon  et  doux  '  character.  His  daughter  told  me 
that  she  had  never  heard  any  unkind  word  or  action  attributed  to  Gibbon ' ' 
(Hist  Studies,  ii.,  506).] 

3  [Speaking  of  the  love  of  pleasure  and  the  love  of  action,  he  says  :  "  The 
character  in  which  both  the  one  and  the  other  should  be  united  and  harmonised 
would  seem  to  constitute  the  most  perfect  idea  of  human  nature  "  ( The  Decline, 

»■,  35)-] 

4  [This  pleasure  was  interrupted  by  the  French  Revolution.  On  Nov.  25, 
1792,  he  wrote  :  "  The  times  will  not  allow  me  to  read  or  think  "  (Corres.,  ii., 
347)-] 

5  [In  the  preface  to  the  second  half  of  The  Decline  (i.,  Preface,  p.  13)  he  says  : 
"  In  the  ardent  pursuit  of  truth  and  knowledge  I  am  not  conscious  of  decay. 
To  an  active  mind  indolence  is  more  painful  than  labour."] 


1789-93]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  241 

escaped  from  the  long  perils  of  my  childhood,  the  serious  ad- 
vice of  a  physician  has  seldom  been  requisite.1  "  The  madness 
of  superfluous  health"2  I  have  never  known;  but  my  tender 
constitution  has  been  fortified  by  time,  and  the  inestimable 
gift  of  the  sound  and  peaceful  slumbers  of  infancy  may  be 
imputed  both  to  the  mind  and  body.3  3.  I  have  already 
described  the  merits  of  my  society  and  situation  ;  but  these 
enjoyments  would  be  tasteless  or  bitter  if  their  possession 
were  not  assured  by  an  annual  and  adequate  supply.  Accord- 
ing to  the  scale  of  Switzerland,  I  am  a  rich  man ;  and  I  am 
indeed  rich,  since  my  income  is  superior  to  my  expense,  and 
my  expense  is  equal  to  my  wishes.4  My  friend  Lord  Sheffield 
has  kindly  relieved  me  from  the  cares  to  which  my  taste  and 
temper  are  most  adverse  5  :  shall  I  add,  that  since  the  failure 
of  my  first  wishes,  I  have  never  entertained  any  serious 
thoughts  of  a  matrimonial  connection  ? 6 

1  am  disgusted  with  the  affectation  of  men  of  letters,  who 
complain  that  they  have  renounced  a  substance  for  a  shadow  ; 
and  that  their  fame  (which  sometimes  is  no  insupportable 
weight)  affords  a  poor  compensation  for  envy,  censure,  and 
persecution.7     My  own  experience,  at  least,  has  taught  me  a 

*  {Post,  p.  258.] 

2  [Pope,  Essay  on  Man,  iii. ,  3.     See  ante,  p.  42.] 

3  [In  July  1785  he  wrote :  "  Good  spirits,  good  appetite,  good  sleep  are  my 
habitual  state,  and  though  verging  towards  fifty  I  still  feel  myself  a  young  man  " 
{Corres.,  ii. ,  129).  In  1790  his  health  began  to  fail.  "  From  Feb.  9  to  July  1 
I  was  not  able,"  he  wrote,  "  to  move  from  my  house  or  chair."  In  the  follow- 
ing winter  he  was  again  confined  for  several  weeks  (ii.,  pp.  221,  233).  "The 
seeds  of  the  gout,"  he  said,  ' '  were  sown  in  his  constitution  by  the  hard  drinking  " 
of  his  militia  days  (Auto.,  p.  189).] 

4  [When  his  estate  at  Beriton  was  selling  he  wrote  :  "  I  shall  at  last  attain, 
what  I  have  always  sighed  for,  a  clear  and  competent  income,  above  my  wants 
and  equal  to  my  wishes"  (Corres.,  ii. ,  192).] 

5  [The  management  and  sale  of  his  estate.  ] 

6  [See  Appendix  66.  ] 

7  M.  d'Alembert  relates,  that  as  he  was  walking  in  the  gardens  of  Sans  Souci 
with  the  King  of  Prussia,  Frederic  said  to  him,  "  Do  you  see  that  old  woman, 
a  poor  weeder,  asleep  on  that  sunny  bank  ?  she  is  probably  a  more  happy  being 
than  either  of  us  ".  The  king  and  the  philosopher  may  speak  for  themselves  ; 
for  my  part  I  do  not  envy  the  old  woman. — Gibbon. 

["  J'ai  toujours  meprise'  la  triste  philosophic  qui  veut  nous  rendre  insensibles 
a  la  gloire"  (Corres. ,  i. ,  292). 

"  I  have  never  affected,  indeed  I  have  never  understood,  the  stoical  apathy, 

16 


242  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1789-93 

very  different  lesson  :  twenty  happy  years  have  been  animated 
by  the  labour  of  my  History  x ;  and  its  success  has  given  me 
a  name,  a  rank,  a  character,  in  the  world,  to  which  I  should 
not  otherwise  have  been  entitled.  The  freedom  of  my 
writings  has  indeed  provoked  an  implacable  tribe  ;  but,  as  I 
was  safe  from  the  stings,  I  was  soon  accustomed  to  the 
buzzing  of  the  hornets  :  my  nerves  are  not  tremblingly  alive, 
and  my  literary  temper  is  so  happily  framed,  that  I  am  less 
sensible  of  pain  than  of  pleasure.2  The  rational  pride  of  an 
author  may  be  offended,  rather  than  nattered,  by  vague 
indiscriminate  praise 3 ;  but  he  cannot,  he  should  not,  be 
indifferent  to  the  fair  testimonies  of  private  and  public 
esteem.4     Even  his  moral  sympathy  may  be  gratified  by  the 

the  proud  contempt  of  criticism  which  some  authors  have  publicly  professed. 
Fame  is  the  motive,  it  is  the  reward  of  our  labours  ;  nor  can  I  easily  comprehend 
how  it  is  possible  that  we  should  remain  cold  and  indifferent  with  regard  to  the 
attempts  which  are  made  to  deprive  us  of  the  most  valuable  object  of  our 
possessions,  or  at  least  of  our  hopes"  (Misc.  Works,  iv. ,  517). 

He  did  not  always  write  in  this  strain.  In  the  Decline,  vi. ,  341,  he  describes 
how  Saladin  ' '  renounced  the  temptations  of  pleasure  for  the  graver  follies  of 
fame  and  dominion  ". 

"  Men,"  said  Johnson,  "  have  a  solicitude  about  fame,  and  the  greater  share 
they  have  of  it,  the  more  afraid  they  are  of  losing  it  "  (Boswell's  Johnson,  i. ,  451). 

Burke  described  fame  as  "  a  passion  which  is  the  instinct  of  all  great  souls  " 
(Payne's  Burke,  i. ,  148). 

Compare  the  "  laudumque  immensa  cupido"  of  Virgil  (sEneid,  vi. ,  823), 
and  "  That  last  infirmity  of  noble  mind"  of  Milton  (Lycidas,  1.  71).] 

x[In  The  Decline,  vi.,  26,  after  quoting  the  Caliph's  saying  that  in  a  reign 
of  fifty  years  he  had  enjoyed  but  fourteen  days  of  pure  and  genuine  happiness, 
Gibbon  adds  in  a  note  :  "  If  I  may  speak  of  myself  (the  only  person  of  whom  I 
can  speak  with  certainty),  my  happy  hours  have  far  exceeded,  and  far  exceed 
the  scanty  numbers  of  the  Caliph  of  Spain  ;  and  I  shall  not  scruple  to  add  that 
many  of  them  are  due  to  the  pleasing  labour  of  the  present  composition  ".] 

2["  Every  one  of  Racine's  tragedies,"  writes  Dr.  Warton,  "  was  attacked  by 
malignant  critics.  He  used  to  say  that  these  paltry  critics  gave  him  more  pain 
than  all  his  applauders  had  given  him  pleasure"  (Warton's  Pope's  Works,  i., 
229).  This  was  perhaps  true  of  Pope  (Johnson's  Works,  viii. ,  303,  315),  and 
was  certainly  true  of  Tennyson.     See  ante,  p.  126,  n.  2.] 

3["  The  Marquis  of  Tuscany  loved  praise  and  hated  flattery  ;  a  nice  touch- 
stone which  discriminates  vanity  from  the  love  of  fame  "  (Misc.  Works,  iii. ,  406). 
"  Dearest  madam,"  said  Johnson  to  Hannah  More,  when  she  kept  on  flattering 
him,  "consider  with  yourself  what  your  flattery  is  worth,  before  you  bestow  it 
so  freely"  (Boswell's  Johnson,  iv.,  341).] 

4|_"Our  uncertainty  concerning  our  own  merit,  and  our  anxiety  to  think 
favourably  of  it,  should  together  naturally  enough  make  us  desirous  to  know 
the  opinion  of  other  people  concerning  it ;  to  be  more  than  ordinarily  elevated 
when  that  opinion  is  favourable"  (Adam  Smith's  Theory  of  Moral  Sentiments, 
ed.  1801,  i. ,  259).] 


1789-93]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  243 

idea,  that  now,  in  the  present  hour,  he  is  imparting  some 
degree  of  amusement  or  knowledge  to  his  friends  in  a  distant 
land  :  that  one  day  his  mind  will  he  familiar  to  the  grand- 
children of  those  who  are  yet  unborn.1  I  cannot  boast  of 
the  friendship  or  favour  of  princes  ;  the  patronage  of  English 
literature  has  long  since  been  devolved  on  our  booksellers,2 
and  the  measure  of  their  liberality  is  the  least  ambiguous  test 
of  our  common  success.  Perhaps  the  golden  mediocrity  of 
my  fortune  3  has  contributed  to  fortify  my  application. 

The  present  is  a  fleeting  moment,  the  past  is  no  more  ;  and 
our  prospect  of  futurity  is  dark  and  doubtful.  This  day  may 
possibly  be  my  last :  but  the  laws  of  probability,  so  true  in 
general,  so  fallacious  in  particular,  still  allow  about  fifteen 
years.4  I  shall  soon  enter  into  the  period  which,  as  the  most 
agreeable  of  my  long  life,  was  selected  by  the  judgment  and 
experience  of  the  sage  Fontenelle.  His  choice  is  approved 
by  the  eloquent  historian  of  nature,  who  fixes  our  moral 
happiness  to  the   mature   season   in  which  our  passions  are 

1  In  the  first  of  ancient  or  modern  romances  (Tom  Jones),  this  proud 
sentiment,  this  feast  of  fancy,  is  enjoyed  by  the  genius  of  Fielding. — "Come, 
bright  love  of  fame,  etc. ,  fill  my  ravished  fancy  with  the  hopes  of  charming  ages 
yet  to  come.  Foretel  me  that  some  tender  maid,  whose  grandmother  is  yet 
unborn,  hereafter,  when,  under  the  fictitious  name  of  Sophia,  she  reads  the  real 
worth  which  once  existed  in  my  Charlotte,  shall  from  her  sympathetic  breast 
send  forth  the  heaving  sigh.  Do  thou  teach  me  not  only  to  foresee  but  to 
enjoy,  nay  even  to  feed  on  future  praise.  Comfort  me  by  the  [a]  solemn 
assurance,  that,  when  the  little  parlour  in  which  I  sit  at  this  moment  [instant] 
shall  be  reduced  to  a  worse  furnished  box,  I  shall  be  read  with  honour  by  those 
who  never  knew  nor  saw  me,  and  whom  I  shall  neither  know  nor  see"  (Book 
xiii. ,  ch.  i.) — Gibbon. 

["A  just  estimate  of  greatness,  and  the  assurance  of  immortal  fame,  improve 
our  relish  for  the  pleasures  of  retirement  "  ( The  Decline,  i. ,  388).  See  also  ib. ,  ii. , 
19,  where  Gibbon  tells  how  the  sages  of  Greece  and  Rome  ' '  reflected  on  the 
desire  of  fame,  which  transported  them  into  future  ages  far  beyond  the  bounds 
of  death  and  of  the  grave  ". 

For  his  earlier  praise  of  Tom  Jo?ies,  see  ante,  p.  4.] 

2  ["A  man  (said  Johnson)  goes  to  a  bookseller  and  gets  what  he  can.  We 
have  done  with  patronage"  (Bosv/elYs /ohnson,  v.,  59).  "Andrew  Millar  [the 
bookseller],"  he  said,  "  is  the  Maecenas  of  the  age"  {ib.,  i.,  287,  «.).] 

3["Auream  quisquis  mediocritatem  Diligit,"  etc.  (Horace,  Odes,  ii.,  10.,  5. 
See  ante,  p.  188. 

Gibbon  maintained  that  ' '  few  works  of  merit  and  importance  had  been 
executed  in  a  garret "  (Auto. ,  p.  292).  Among  his  contemporaries  were  Thomson, 
Fielding,  Johnson,  Smollett,  and  Goldsmith,  all  poor  men,  and  most  of  them 
not  unacquainted  with  a  garret.] 

4[See/0s/,  p.  265,  and  Appendix  67.] 


244  EDWAED  GIBBON  [1789-93 

supposed  to  be  calmed/  our  duties  fulfilled,  our  ambition 
satisfied,  our  fame  and  fortune  established  on  a  solid  basis. 
In  private  conversation,  that  great  and  amiable  man  added 
the  weight  of  his  own  experience ;  and  this  autumnal  felicity 
might  be  exemplified  in  the  lives  of  Voltaire,  Hume,  and 
many  other  men  of  letters.2  I  am  far  more  inclined  to  embrace 
than  to  dispute  this  comfortable  doctrine.  I  will  not  suppose 
any  premature  decay  of  the  mind  or  body ;  but  I  must  re- 
luctantly observe  that  two  causes,  the  abbreviation  of  time, 
and  the  failure  of  hope,3  will  always  tinge  with  a  browner 
shade  the  evening  of  life. 

The  proportion  of  a  part  to  the  whole  is  the  only  standard 
by  which  we  can  measure  the  length  of  our  existence.  At 
the  age  of  twenty,  one  year  is  a  tenth  perhaps  of  the  time 
which  has  elapsed  within  our  consciousness  and  memory  :  at 
the  age  of  fifty  it  is  no  more  than  the  fortieth,  and  this 
relative  value  continues  to  decrease  till  the  last  sands  are 
shaken  by  the  hand  of  death.  This  reasoning  may  seem 
metaphysical  ;  but  on  a  trial  it  will  be  found  satisfactory  and 
just.  The  warm  desires,  the  long  expectations  of  youth,  are 
founded  on  the  ignorance  of  themselves  and  of  the  world  : 
they  are  gradually  damped  by  time  and  experience,  by  dis- 
appointment or  possession  ;  and  after  the  middle  season  the 
crowd  must  be  content  to  remain  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  ; 
while  the  few  who  have  climbed  the  summit  aspire  to  descend 
or  expect  to  fall.  In  old  age,  the  consolation  of  hope  is 
reserved  for  the  tenderness  of  parents,  who  commence  a  new 
life  in  their  children  ;  the  faith  of  enthusiasts  who  sing 
Hallelujahs  above  the  clouds,4  and  the  vanity  of  authors  who 
presume  the  immortality  of  their  name  and  writings.5 

1  ["  And  calm  of  mind,  all  passion  spent  "  {Samson  Agonistes,  1.  1758).] 

2  [See  Appendix  68.] 

3 [Gibbon  describes  hope  as  "the  best  comfort  of  our  imperfect  condition" 
(  The  Decline,  i. ,  40).] 

4 [For  the  "small  number  of  the  Elect"  to  whom  "this  celestial  hope  is 
confined  "  see  Auto.,  p.  349.] 

5  [The  whole  of  this  last  paragraph  Lord  Sheffield  degraded  from  the  text  to 
a  note. 

This  conclusion  is  dated  Lausanne,  March  2,  1791  {Auto.,  p.  349).  Much 
however  of  the  Autobiography  was  written  in  the  years  1792-3  {il>. ,  Table 
of  Contents).] 


1789-93]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  245 


Lord  Sheffield's  Continuation  of  the  Memoirs.1 

Mr.  Gibbon's  lettei's  in  general  bear  a  strong  resemblance 
to  the  style  and  turn  of  his  conversation  ;  the  characteristics 
of  which  were  vivacity,  elegance,  and  precision,  with  know- 
ledge astonishingly  extensive  and  correct. 2f  He  never  ceased 
to  be  instructive  and  entertaining  ;  and  in  general  there  was 
a  vein  of  pleasantry  in  his  conversation  which  prevented  its 
becoming  languid,  even  during  a  residence  of  many  months 
with  a  family  in  the  country. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  he  always  arranged  what  he 
intended  to  say,  before  he  spoke  ;  his  quickness  in  conversa- 
tion contradicts  this  notion  3  :  but  it  is  very  true,  that  before 
he  sat  down  to  write  a  note  or  letter,  he  completely  arranged 

1  [The  passages  which  I  am  printing  from  this  continuation  are  taken  from 
Gibbon's  Miscellaneous  Works  (i.,  277-8,  329-31,  404-28).  The  intervals  are 
filled  up  with  correspondence,  which  can  be  now  much  better  read  in  Mr. 
Rowland  E.  Prothero's  Letters  of  'Edward  Gibbon.] 

2  [Miss  Holroyd  wrote  six  weeks  after  his  death  :  "  Papa  has  read  us  several 
parts  of  Mr.  Gibbon's  Memoirs,  written  so  exactly  in  the  style  of  his  conversa- 
tion that,  while  we  felt  delighted  at  the  beauty  of  the  thoughts  and  elegance  of 
the  language,  we  could  not  help  feeling  a  severe  pang  at  the  idea  we  should 
never  hear  his  instructive  and  amusing  conversation  any  more  "  (Girlhood,  etc., 
P-  273)- 

"  Mr.  Gibbon's  conversation,  though  in  the  highest  degree  informing,  was 
not  externally  brilliant.  He  was  by  no  means  fluent  of  speech ;  his  articulation 
was  not  graceful ;  his  sentences  were  evidently  laboured,  as  if  he  was  fearful  of 
committing  himself.  It  was  rather  pedantic  and  stiff  than  easy  ;  yet  by  some 
unaccountable  fascination  it  was  always  agreeable  and  impressive  "  (Gent.  Mag., 
1794,  P-  178)- 

Malone,  writing  of  his  death,  continued  :  "  He  had  an  immense  fund  of 
anecdote  and  of  erudition  of  various  kinds,  both  ancient  and  modern  ;  and  had 
acquired  such  a  facility  and  elegance  of  talk  that  I  had  always  great  pleasure  in 
listening  to  him.  The  manner  and  voice,  though  they  were  peculiar,  and  I 
believe  artificial  at  first,  did  not  at  all  offend,  for  they  had  become  so  appro- 
priated as  to  appear  natural"  (Hist.  MSS.  C.  13th  Report,  App.  viii.,  p.  230). 
At  an  earlier  date  Malone  recorded  :  "  Mr.  Gibbon  is  very  replete  with  anec- 
dotes, and  tells  them  with  great  happiness  and  fluency  "  (Prior's  Malone,  p. 
382).  Mme.  D'Arblay  describes  his  voice  as  "gentle,  but  of  studied  precision 
of  accent  "  (Memoirs  of  Dr.  Burney,  ii.,  224).  On  the  other  hand,  according  to 
Garat,  quoted  by  Sainte-Beuve  :  "  Sa  voix,  qui  n'avait  que  des  accens  aigus,  ne 
pouvait  avoir  d'autre  moyen  d'arriver  au  coeur  que  de  percer  les  oreilles  " 
(Causeries,  viii.,  440).] 

:i  [Miss  Holroyd  wrote  of  him  at  Lausanne  :  "  When  he  opens  his  mouth 
(which  you  know  he  generally  does  some  time  before  he  has  arranged  his 
sentence),"  etc.  (Girlhood,  etc.,  p.  77).] 


246  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1791-93 

in  his  mind  what  he  meant  to  express.  He  pursued  the  same 
method  in  respect  to  other  composition  ;  and  he  occasionally 
would  walk  several  times  about  his  apartment  before  he  had 
rounded  a  period  to  his  taste.1  He  has  pleasantly  remarked 
to  me,  that  it  sometimes  cost  him  many  a  turn  before  he 
could  throw  a  sentiment  into  a  form  that  gratified  his  own 
criticism.  His  systematic  habit  of  arrangement  in  point  of 
style,  assisted,  in  his  instance,  by  an  excellent  memory  and 
correct  judgment,  is  much  to  be  recommended  to  those  who 
aspire  to  any  perfection  in  writing. 

It  may,  perhaps,  not  be  quite  uninteresting  to  the  readers 
of  these  Memoirs,  to  know  that  I  found  Mr.  Gibbon  at 
Lausanne  2  in  possession  of  an  excellent  house  ;  the  view  from 
which,  and  from  the  terrace,  was  so  uncommonly  beautiful, 
that  even  his  own  pen  would  with  difficulty  describe  the  scene 
which  it  commanded.  This  prospect  comprehended  every- 
thing vast  and  magnificent,  which  could  be  furnished  by  the 
finest  mountains  among  the  Alps,  the  most  extensive  view 
of  the  Lake  of  Geneva,  with  a  beautifully  varied  and  culti- 
vated country,  adorned  by  numerous  villas,  and  picturesque 
buildings,  intermixed  with  beautiful  masses  of  stately  trees. 
Here  my  friend  received  us  with  an  hospitality  and  kindness 
which  I  can  never  forget.  The  best  apartments  of  the  house 
were  appropriated  to  our  use  ;  the  choicest  society  of  the  place 
was  sought  for,  to  enliven  our  visit,  and  render  every  day  of  it 
cheerful  and  agreeable.  It  was  impossible  for  any  man  to  be 
more  esteemed  and  admired  than  Mr.  Gibbon  was  at  Lausanne. 
The  preference  he  had  given  to  that  place,  in  adopting  it 
for  a  residence,  rather  than  his  own  country,  was  felt  and 
acknowledged  by  all  the  inhabitants  ;  and  he  may  have  been 
said  almost  to  have  given  the  law  to  a  set  of  as  willing  subjects 
as  any  man  ever  presided  over.  In  return  for  the  deference 
shown  to  him,  he  mixed,  without  any  affectation,  in  all  the 
society,  I  mean  all  the  best  society,  that  Lausanne  afforded  ; 
he  could  indeed  command  it,  and  was,  perhaps,  for  that  reason 

l\Ante  p.  201.]  2 [In  the  summer  of  1791.] 


1791-93]      MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  247 

the  more  partial  to  it ;  for  he  often  declared  that  he  liked 
society  more  as  a  relaxation  from  study,  than  as  expecting  to 
derive  from  it  amusement  or  instruction ;  that  to  books  he 
looked  for  improvement,  not  to  living  persons.  But  this  I  con- 
sidered partly  as  an  answer  to  my  expressions  of  wonder,  that 
a  man  who  might  choose  the  most  various  and  most  generally 
improved  society  in  the  world,  namely,  in  England,  should 
prefer  the  very  limited  circle  of  Lausanne,  which  he  never 
deserted,  but  for  an  occasional  visit  to  M.  and  Madame 
Necker.  It  must  not,  however,  be  understood,  that  in 
choosing  Lausanne  for  his  home,  he  was  insensible  to  the 
value  of  a  residence  in  England  :  he  was  not  in  possession  of 
an  income  which  corresponded  with  his  notions  of  ease  and 
comfort  in  his  own  country.  In  Switzerland,  his  fortune  was 
ample.1  To  this  consideration  of  fortune  may  be  added 
another  which  also  had  its  weight ;  from  early  youth  Mr. 
Gibbon  had  contracted  a  partiality  for  foreign  taste  and 
foreign  habits  of  life,  which  made  him  less  a  stranger  abroad 
than  he  was,  in  some  respects,  in  his  native  country.  This 
arose,  perhaps,  from  having  been  out  of  England  from  his 
sixteenth  to  his  twenty-first  year ;  yet,  when  I  came  to 
Lausanne,  I  found  him  apparently  without  relish  for  French 
society.  During  the  stay  I  made  with  him  he  renewed  his 
intercourse  with  the  principal  French  who  were  at  Lausanne ; 
of  whom  there  happened  to  be  a  considerable  number,  dis- 
tinguished for  rank  or  talents  ;  many  indeed  respectable  for 
both.  ...  In  the  social  and  singularly  pleasant  months  that 
I  passed  with  Mr.  Gibbon,  he  enjoyed  his  usual  cheerfulness, 
with  good  health.  After  he  left  England,  in  1788,  he  had 
had  a  severe  attack,  mentioned  in  one  of  the  foregoing  letters,2 
of  an  erysipelas,  which  at  last  settled  in  one  of  his  legs,  and 
left  something  of  a  dropsical  tendency ;  for  at  this  time  I  first 
perceived  a  considerable  degree  of  swelling  about  the  ankle. 

1[AnU,  p.  215.] 

2  Misc.  Works,  i.,  310,  316. — SHEFFIELD.  [Carres.,  ii.,  221,  233.  In  Misc. 
Works,  i.,  310,  the  date  1790  is  wrong.  The  letter  was  an  answer  to  Lord 
Sheffield's  of  3rd  Jan.,  1791.] 


248  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1793 

I  must  ever  regard  it  as  the  most  endearing  proof  of  his 
sensibility,  and  of  his  possessing  the  true  spirit  of  friendship, 
that  after  having  relinquished  the  thought  of  his  intended 
visit,  he  hastened  to  England,  in  spite  of  increasing  im- 
pediments, to  soothe  me  by  the  most  generous  sympathy, 
and  to  alleviate  my  domestic  affliction l ;  neither  his  great 
corpulency,2  nor  his  extraordinary  bodily  infirmities,  nor  any 
other  consideration,  could  prevent  him  a  moment  from  resolv- 
ing on  an  undertaking  that  might  have  deterred  the  most 
active  young  man.  With  an  alertness  by  no  means  natural 
to  him,  he,  almost  immediately,  undertook  a  circuitous  journey, 
along  the  frontiers  of  an  enemy,  worse  than  savage,  within  the 
sound  of  their  cannon,  within  the  range  of  the  light  troops  of 
the  different  armies,  and  through  roads  ruined  by  the  enormous 
machinery  of  war.3 


1  [For  the  death  of  Lady  Sheffield  see  ante ,  p.  239,  n. 

Sainte-Beuve  says  of  Gibbon's  letters  to  the  widower  on  hearing  the  sad 
news :  "  Quelques  lettres  meme,  les  dernieres,  ont  des  accents  demotion  qu'on 
n'attendrait  pas  ;  celle  qu'il  ecrit  a  lord  Sheffield  a  la  premiere  nouvelle  de  son 
malheur,  et  au  moment  de  partir  pour  le  rejoindre,  est  belle  et  touchante  ;  on 
dirait  presque  qu'un  Eclair  de  religion  y  a  pass£"  [Causer  ies,  viii. ,  471). 

The  following  is  the  passage  which  touched  Sainte-Beuve  :  "  But  she  is  now 
at  rest ;  and  if  there  be  a  future  state  her  mild  virtues  have  surely  entitled  her  to 
the  reward  of  pure  and  perfect  felicity"  [Corres.,  ii. ,  378). 

Lord  Sheffield  consoled  himself  by  a  second  wife,  and,  on  losing  her,  by  a 
third  [Girlhood  of M.  J.  Holroyd,  pp.  310,  395,  «.).] 

2["Mr.  Gibbon,"  wrote  Mme.  D'Arblay,  "has  cheeks  of  such  prodigious 
chubbiness  that  they  envelope  his  nose  so  completely  as  to  render  it  in  profile 
absolutely  invisible.  Yet,  with  these  Brobdignatious  cheeks  his  neat  little  feet 
are  of  a  miniature  description,  and  with  these,  as  soon  as  I  turned  round,  he 
hastily  described  a  quaint  sort  of  circle  with  small  quick  steps,  and  a  dapper  gait, 
as  if  to  mark  the  alacrity  of  his  approach"  [Memoirs  of  Dr.  Burney,  ii.,  224). 

Sainte-Beuve  copies  the  following  description  of  him  by  Gara't,  allowing  at 
the  same  time  that  it  is  overcharged:  "  L'auteur  de  la  grande  et  superbe 
Histoire  de  I' Empire  romain  avait  a  peine  quatre  pieds  sept  a  huit  pouces  ;  le 
tronc  immense  de  son  corps  a  gros  ventre  de  Silene  £tait  pose"  sur  cette  espece  de 
jambesgrcles  qu'on  appeWeJlittes;  ses  pieds  assez  en  dedans  pour  que  la  pointe 
du  droit  put  embarrasser  souvent  la  pointe  du  gauche,  6taient  assez  longs  et 
assez  larges  pour  servir  de  socle  a  une  statue  de  cinq  pieds  six  pouces.  Au 
milieu  de  son  visage,  pas  plus  gros  que  le  poing,  la  racine  de  son  nez  s'enfoncait 
dans  le  crane  plus  profond^ment  que  celle  du  nez  d'un  Kalmouck,  et  ses  yeux, 
tres  vifs,  mais  tres  petits,  se  perdaient  dans  les  memes  profondeurs"  [Canseries, 
viii.,  440).] 

3  ["  Frankfort,  May  19, 1793. — And  here  I  am  in  good  health  and  spirits,  after 
one  of  the  easiest,  safest,  and  pleasantest  journies  which  I  ever  performed  in  my 
whole  life ;  not  the  appearance  of  an  enemy,  and  hardly  the  appearance  of  a 
war.     Yet  I  hear,  as  I  am  writing,  the  cannon  of  the  siege  of  Mayence,  at  the 


1793]  MEMOIKS  OF  MY  LIFE  249 

The  readiness  with  which  he  engaged  in  this  kind  office  of 
friendship,  at  a  time  when  a  selfish  spirit  might  have  pleaded 
a  thousand  reasons  for  declining  so  hazardous  a  journey,  con- 
spired, with  the  peculiar  charms  of  his  society,  to  render  his 
arrival  a  cordial  to  my  mind.  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  finding 
that  his  own  delicate  and  precarious  health  had  not  suffered 
in  the  service  of  his  friend.  He  arrived  in  the  beginning  of 
June  at  my  house  in  Downing  Street  in  good  health  ;  and 
after  passing  about  a  month  with  me  there,  we  settled  at 
Sheffield  Place  for  the  remainder  of  the  summer  ;  where  his 
wit,  learning,  and  cheerful  politeness  delighted  a  great  variety 
of  characters. 

Although  he  was  inclined  to  represent  his  health  as  better 
than  it  really  was,  his  habitual  dislike  to  motion  appeared  to 
increase  ;  his  inaptness  to  exercise  confined  him  to  the  library 
and  dining-room,  and  there  he  joined  my  friend,  Mr. 
Frederick  North,1  in  pleasant  arguments  against  exercise  in 
general.2     He  ridiculed  the  unsettled  and  restless  disposition 

distance  of  twenty  miles,  and  long,  very  long,  will  it  be  heard"  [Carres.,  ii. , 
382). 

"  Brussels,  May,  27,  1793. — This  day,  between  two  and  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  I  am  arrived  at  this  place  in  excellent  preservation.  My  expedition, 
which  is  now  drawing  to  a  close,  has  been  a  journey  of  perseverance  rather 
than  speed,  of  some  labour  since  Frankfort,  but  without  the  smallest  degree  of 
difficulty  or  danger.  As  I  have  every  morning  been  seated  in  the  chaise  soon 
after  sun-rise,  I  propose  indulging  to-morrow  till  eleven  o'clock,  and  going  that 
day  no  farther  than  Ghent.  On  Wednesday  the  29th  instant  I  shall  reach 
Ostend  in  good  time,  just  eight  days,  according  to  my  former  reckoning,  from 
Frankfort"  [id.,  p.  383).] 

1  [Third  son  of  the  Prime  Minister  ;  afterwards  fifth  Earl  of  Guilford.  Lord 
Sheffield's  elder  daughter,  in  the  autumn  of  1793,  thus  writes  of  him  and 
Sylvester  Douglas  (mentioned  below),  afterwards  Lord  Glenbervie :  "Mr. 
Douglas  with  his  Greek  and  Latin,  and  Fred  North  with  his  Islands  of  Ithaca 
and  Corfu,  have  put  him  [Gibbon]  quite  in  good  humour,  and  they  are  much 
more  entertaining,  having  him  to  draw  them  out.  ...  It  was  impossible  to 
have  selected  three  beaux  who  could  have  been  more  agreeable,  whether  their 
conversation  was  serious  or  trifling"  [Girlhood  of  M.  J.  Holroyd,  pp.  239,  242).] 

2  [Gibbon  after  describing  his  failure  in  the  riding-school  [ante,  p.  86)  con- 
tinued :  "  Many  precious  hours  were  employed  in  my  closet  which,  at  the  same 
age,  are  wasted  on  horseback  by  the  strenuous  idleness  of  my  countrymen" 
(Auto.,  p.  236). 

On  July  2,  1793,  Miss  Holroyd  wrote  :  "  Gibbon  is  a  mortal  enemy  to  any 
persons  taking  a  walk"  [Girlhood,  etc.,  p.  225). 

"Gibbon  had  been  staying  some  time  with  Lord  Sheffield  in  the  country  ; 
and  when  he  was  about  to  go  away,  the  servants  could  not  find  his  hat.  '  Bless 
me,'  said  Gibbon,  '  I  certainly  left  it  in  the  hall  on  my  arrival  here.'     He  had 


250  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1793 

that  summer,  the  most  uncomfortable,  as  he  said,  of  all 
seasons,  generally  gives  to  those  who  have  the  free  use  of  their 
limbs.  Such  arguments  were  little  required  to  keep  society, 
Mr.  Jekyll,1  Mr.  Douglas,  etc.,  within  doors,  when  his  company 
was  only  there  to  be  enjoyed  ;  for  neither  the  fineness  of  the 
season,  nor  the  most  promising  parties  of  pleasure,  could  tempt 
the  company  of  either  sex  to  desert  him. 

Those  who  have  enjoyed  the  society  of  Mr.  Gibbon  will 
agree  with  me,  that  his  conversation  was  still  more  captivating 
than  his  writings.  Perhaps  no  man  ever  divided  time  more 
fairly  between  literary  labour  and  social  enjoyment ;  and  hence, 
probably  he  derived  his  peculiar  excellence  of  making  his  very 
extensive  knowledge  contribute,  in  the  highest  degree,  to  the 
use  or  pleasure  of  those  with  whom  he  conversed.  He  united, 
in  the  happiest  manner  imaginable,  two  characters  which  are 
not  often  found  in  the  same  person,  the  profound  scholar 
and  the  peculiarly  agreeable  companion.   .  .  . 

Excepting  a  visit  to  Lord  Egremont2  and  Mr.  Hayley,3 
whom  he  particularly  esteemed,  Mr.  Gibbon  was  not  absent 
from  Sheffield  Place  till  the  beginning  of  October,  when  we 

not  stirred  out  of  doors  during  the  whole  of  the  visit"  (Rogers's  Table-Talk, 

P-  "5)- 

His  letter  showed  that  he  had  not,  in  his  latter  years,  always  wholly  neglected 
exercise.  At  Brighton  he  wrote  in  178 1  :  "I  walk  sufficiently  morning  and 
evening".  At  Hampton  Court  he  wrote  in  1782:  "Every  morning  I  walk  a 
mile  or  more  before  breakfast"  (Corres.,  ii.,  3,  23).] 

1["  Mr.  Jekyll  is  a  great  favourite  of  Mr.  G. ,  which  is  rather  surprising,  as 
the  latter  does  not,  in  general,  show  a  predilection  for  those  who  are  less 
qualified  for  hearers  than  orators"  (Girlhood  of  M.  J.  Holroyd,  p.  253). 

"Jekyll  was  celebrated  for  his  wit;  but  it  was  of  that  kind  which  amuses 
only  for  the  moment.  I  remember  that  when  Lady  Cork  gave  a  party  at 
which  she  wore  a  most  enormous  plume,  Jekyll  said,  '  She  was  exactly  like  a 
shuttle-cock — all  cork  and  feathers'"  (Rogers's  Table-Talk,  p.  105).  For 
"  Jekyll,  the  wag  of  law,  the  scribblers'  pride  "  with  "  his  own  book  of  sarcasms 
ready  made,"  see  The  Rolliad,  ed.  1799,  pp.  219,  221.] 

2  [Horace  Walpole  (to  whose  niece  Lord  Egremont  got  engaged)  wrote  of 
him  in  1780  :  "  He  is  eight-and-twenty,  is  handsome,  and  has  between  twenty 
and  thirty  thousand  a  year".  Three  weeks  later  Walpole  wrote:  "  I  must 
notify  the  rupture  of  our  great  match.  Lord  Egremont,  who  proves  a  most 
worthless  young  fellow,  and  is  as  weak  and  irresolute,"  etc.  (Walpole's  Letters, 
vii. ,  414,  421). 

Gibbon,  who  in  1775  had  found  him  at  Up- Park,  "  and  four  score  fox-hounds," 
described  him  as  "  civil  and  sensible  "  (Corres.,  i.,  247,  249).] 

3  {Ante,  pp.  180,  230.  Miss  Holroyd  wrote  on  August  2,  1793  :  "  '  Le  grand 
Gibbon  '  arrived  yesterday  from  Mr.  Hayley's  "  (Girlhood,  etc.,  p.  227).] 


1793]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  251 

were  reluctantly  obliged  to  part  with  him,  that  he  might 
perform  his  engagement  to  Mrs.  Gibbon  at  Bath,  the  widow  of 
his  father,  who  had  early  deserved,  and  invariably  retained, 
his  affection.1  From  Bath  he  proceeded  to  Lord  Spencer's  at 
Althorp,  a  family  which  he  always  met  with  uncommon 
satisfaction.-  He  continued  in  good  health  during  the  whole 
summer,  and  in  excellent  spirits  (I  never  knew  him  enjoy 
better) ;  and  when  he  went  from  Sheffield  Place,  little  did  I 
imagine  it  would  be  the  last  time  I  should  have  the  inex- 
pressible pleasure  of  seeing  him  there  in  full  possession  of 
health. 

The  few  following  short  letters,  though  not  important  in 
themselves,  will  fill  up  this  part  of  the  narrative  better,  and 
more  agreeably,  than  anything  which  I  can  substitute  in  their 
place. 

Edward  Gibbon,  Esq.,  to  (he  Right  Hon.  Lord  Sheffield. 

October  2,  1793. 

The  Cork  Street  hotel  has  answered  its  recommendation  ; 
it  is  clean,  convenient,  and  quiet.  My  fii-st  evening  was 
passed  at  home  in  a  very  agreeable  tetc-d-tete  with  my  friend 
Elmsley.3  Yesterday  I  dined  at  Craufurd's  4  with  an  excellent 
set,  in   which   were   Pelham 5   and   Lord   Egremont.     I   dine 

1[Ante,  p.  113.  On  his  way  to  Althorp  he  passed  a  night  at  the  Star  Inn 
(now  the  Clarendon  Hotel),  Oxford  {Cor res.,  ii. ,  391).] 

2  [Earl  Spencer  and  his  wife  stayed  a  month  at  Lausanne  in  1785.  "  He  is  a 
valuable  man,"  wrote  Gibbon,  "  and  where  he  is  familiar,  a  pleasant  companion  ; 
she  a  charming  woman,  who,  with  sense  and  spirit,  has  the  simplicity  and  play- 
fulness of  a  child  "  (il>. ,  ii. ,  135).  How  ' '  valuable  "  he  was  he  showed  later  on 
as  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty.  Though  he  was  not  in  office  at  the  time  of 
Nelson's  last  and  greatest  victory,  nevertheless  it  might  be  said  of  him,  the 
descendant  of  Marlborough,  that  with  Pitt  he 

"  bade  the  conqueror  go  forth 
And  launched  that  thunderbolt  of  war 
On  Egypt,  Hafnia,  Trafalgar  ". 

"  She  used  playfully  to  call  Nelson  her  bull-dog  "  [Memoir  of  Visceunt  Althorp, 
p.  20).     She  had  known  Johnson  (Boswell's  Johnson,  iii. ,  425,  «.).] 

'J[Ante,  p.  194.]  i[Post,  p.  265.] 

5 [Probably  Thomas  Pelham,  afterwards  second  Earl  of  Chichester  (Cor res., 
ii.,60).] 


252  EDWARD  GIBBON  [ms 

to-day  with  my  Portuguese  friend,  Madame  de  Sylva,1  at 
Grenier's ;  most  probably  with  Lady  Webster,2  whom  I  met 
last  night  at  Devonshire-House ;  a  constant,  though  late, 
resort  of  society.  The  Duchess 3  is  as  good,  and  Lady 
Elizabeth  as  seducing  as  ever.  No  news  whatsoever.  You 
will  see  in  the  papers  Lord  Hervey's  memorial.  I  love  vigour, 
but  it  is  surely  a  strong  measure  to  tell  a  gentleman  you  have 
resolved  to  pass  the  winter  in  his  house.4  London  is  not 
disagreeable  ;  yet  I  shall  probably  leave  it  Saturday.  If  any 
thing  should  occur,  I  will  write.     Adieu  ;  ever  yours. 

To  the  same. 

Sunday  afternoon  I  left  London  and  lay  at  Reading,  and 
Monday  in  very  good  time  I  reached  this  place,  after  a  very 
pleasant  airing  ;  and  am  always  so  much  delighted  and  im- 
proved, with  this  union  of  ease  and  motion,  that,  were  not 
the  expense  enormous,  I  would  travel  every  year  some  hundred 
miles,  more  especially  in  England.5     I  passed  the  day  with 

1  [A  pretty  Portuguese,  with  whom,  according  to  Miss  Holroyd,  Gibbon  was 
"desperately  in  love"  {Girlhood,  etc.,  p.  82).] 

2  [In  the  original,  "with  the  well-washed  feet  of  Lady  W.  "  (Carres. ,  ii. ,  388). 
For  the  explanation  of  this  see  The  Girlhood  of  M.  J.  Holroyd,  p.  239.  In  1797, 
being  divorced  from  her  husband,  she  married  the  third  Lord  Holland  [Annual 
Register,  1797,  ii.,  10).  She  is  described  in  that  passage  where  Macaulay, 
writing  of  Holland  House,  tells  how  "  the  last  survivors  of  our  generation  with 
peculiar  fondness  will  recall  that  venerable  chamber,  in  which  all  the  antique 
gravity  of  a  college  library  was  so  singularly  blended  with  all  that  female  grace 
and  wit  could  devise  to  embellish  a  drawing-room  "  (Macaulay's  Essays,  ed. 
1874,  III- ,  285).] 

3  [The  beautiful  Duchess  of  Devonshire  whom  Reynolds  and  Gainsborough 
painted.] 

4  [Lord  Hervey,  the  English  Minister  at  Florence,  in  a  Memorial  published 
in  The  Morning  Chronicle,  Oct.  2,  1793,  required  that  the  French  Minister 
should  be  dismissed,  and  that  all  trade  with  France  should  cease.  The  English 
fleet  would  enforce  obedience,  if  necessary,  and  at  the  same  time  would  protect 
the  Tuscan  ships.] 

5["  In  the  afternoon,  as  we  were  driven  rapidly  along  in  the  post-chaise,  Dr. 
Johnson  said  to  me,  'Life  has  not  many  things  better  than  this'"  (Boswell's 
Johnson,  ii. ,  453). 

In  Paterson's  British  Itinerary,  ed.  1800,  Preface,  p.  7,  the  price  of  a  post- 
chaise  and  pair  is  stated  to  be  nine  pence  a  mile,  but  in  many  places  two  pence, 
three  pence,  four  pence  more.  To  this  was  added  the  government  duty  of  three 
pence  per  mile,  and  the  driver's  payment  of  a  shilling  or  eighteen  pence  for  each 
stage  of  ten  or  twelve  miles.  In  addition  to  this  there  were  turnpike  tolls,  and 
the  payments  to  ostlers.     In  the  Penny  Cyclopmdia  for  1840  (xviii. ,  460)  the  total 


1793]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  253 

Mrs.  G.  yesterday.  In  mind  and  conversation  she  is  just  the 
same  as  twenty  years  ago.  She  has  spirits,  appetite,  legs,  and 
eyes,  and  talks  of  living  till  ninety.1  I  can  say  from  my 
heart,  Amen.'2  We  dine  at  two,  and  remain  together  till 
nine  ;  but,  although  we  have  much  to  say,  I  am  not  sorry  that 
she  talks  of  introducing  a  third  or  fourth  actor.  Lord  Spenser 
expects  me  about  the  20th  ;  but  if  I  can  do  it  without  offence, 
I  shall  steal  away  two  or  three  days  soonei-,  and  you  shall 
have  advice  of  my  motions.  The  troubles  of  Bristol  have 
been  serious  and  bloody.  I  know  not  who  was  in  fault ;  but 
I  do  not  like  appeasing  the  mob  by  the  extinction  of  the  toll, 
and  the  removal  of  the  Hereford  militia,  who  had  done  their 
duty.3  Adieu.  The  girls  must  dance  at  Tunbridge.  What 
would  dear  little  aunt i  say  if  I  was  to  answer  her  letter  ? 
Ever  yours,  etc. 

York  House,  Bath,  October  9,  1793. 

I  still  follow  the  old  style,  though  the  Convention  has 
abolished  the  Christian  aera,  with  months,  weeks,  days,  etc.5 

To  the  same. 

York  House,  Bath,  October  13,  1793. 

I  am  as  ignorant  of  Bath  in  general  as  if  I  were  still  at 
Sheffield.      My  impatience  to  get  away   makes  me  think  it 

cost  is  given  as  one  shilling  and  ten  pence  a  mile.  As  Bath  is  107  miles  from 
London  the  charge  for  posting  alone  would,  at  this  rate,  have  amounted  to 
nearly  ^10.  To  this  must  be  added  the  charges  of  the  inns.  Gibbon  lay  one 
night  at  Reading,  and  took  two  servants  with  him.] 

2She  was  then  in  her  eightieth  year.— Sheffield. 

-[Ante,  p.  113,  n.  2.] 

3  [The  trustees  of  the  bridge  tolls,  in  letting  them  a  year  earlier,  had  given 
notice  that  they  were  to  be  levied  for  the  last  time.  Nevertheless  they  were 
continued.  The  mob  three  days  running  destroyed  the  gates  ;  the  militia  fired  ; 
"about  fifteen  persons  were  killed,  and  near  forty  wounded".  "The  tolls 
were  abandoned  ;  some  of  the  principal  citizens  having  offered  to  present  to  the 
trustees  the  sum  for  which  they  were  let."  Nevertheless  the  mob  broke  the 
windows  of  the  Town- House,  but  dispersed  on  the  arrival  of  more  troops 
(Ann.  Reg.,  1793,  ii.,  45).]  _ 

■1  [Lord  Sheffield's  sister,  Sarah  Martha  Holroyd,  the  Aunt  "Serena  ot 
The  Girlhood  of  M.  J.  Holroyd.} 

5 [On  Sept.  20,  1793,  the  Convention  decreed  that  "the  common  or  vulgar 
era  is  abolished"  (Ann.  Reg.,  1793,  "•>  41)-] 


254  EDWARD  GIBBON  [ms 

better  to  devote  my  whole  time  to  Mrs.  G.1 ;  and  dear  little 
aunt,  whom  I  tenderly  salute,  will  excuse  me  to  her  two 
friends,  Mrs.  Hartley  and  Preston,  if  I  make  little  or  no  use 
of  her  kind  introduction.  A  tete-a-tete  of  eight  or  nine  hours 
every  day  is  rather  difficult  to  support ;  yet  I  do  assure  you, 
that  our  conversation  flows  with  more  ease  and  spirit  when 
we  are  alone,  than  when  any  auxiliaries  are  summoned  to  our 
aid.  She  is  indeed  a  wonderful  woman,  and  I  think  all  her 
faculties  of  the  mind  stronger,  and  more  active,  than  I  have 
ever  known  them.  I  have  settled,  that  ten  full  days  may  be 
sufficient  for  all  the  purposes  of  our  interview.  I  should  there- 
fore depart  next  Friday,  the  eighteenth  instant,  and  am  indeed 
expected  at  Althorpe  on  the  twentieth ;  but  I  may  possibly 
reckon  without  my  host,  as  I  have  not  yet  apprised  Mrs.  G.  of 
the  term  of  my  visit ;  and  will  certainly  not  quarrel  with  her 
for  a  short  delay.  Adieu.  I  must  have  some  political  specula- 
tions. The  campaign,  at  least  on  our  side,  seems  to  be  at  an 
end.2     Ever  yours. 

To  the  same. 

Althorp  Library,3  Tuesday,  four  o'clock. 

We  have  so  completely  exhausted  this  morning  among  the 
first  editions  of  Cicero,  that  I  can  mention  only  my  departure 
hence  to-morrow,  the  sixth  instant.  I  shall  lie  quietly  at 
Woburn,  and  reach  London  in  good  time  Thursday.  By  the 
following  post  I  will  write  somewhat  more  largely.     My  stay 

1  [When  he  had  got  away  he  wrote  to  her  :  "  I  wish  that  I  could  have  given 
myself  a  larger  scope  for  my  visit  to  Bath  "  (Corres.,  ii. ,  391).] 

2  [The  allies  under  the  Duke  of  York  and  the  Prince  of  Coburg  had  been  de- 
feated in  the  Low  Countries"  (Ann.  Reg.,  1793,  i. ,  273).] 

a[At  Althorp,  "in  the  spacious  suite  of  rooms  Lord  Spencer  placed  that 
splendid  collection  of  books  which  alone  sufficed  to  give  him  a  reputation 
throughout  Europe.  It  was  estimated  to  contain  forty  or  fifty  thousand 
volumes,  amongst  which  were  the  choicest  treasures  of  bibliography."  Once, 
when  he  was  overworked  at  the  Admiralty,  his  physician  "prescribed  a  day's 
cessation  from  business,  and  a  play  of  Euripides,  which  treatment  was  entirely 
successful"  (Memoir  of  Viscount  Althorp,  pp.  15-16). 

The  library  has  been  bought  by  Mrs.  John  Rylands  of  Longford  Hall, 
Stretford,  and  presented  by  her  to  the  City  of  Manchester,  together  with  a 
building  worthy  of  holding  it.] 


1793]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  255 

in  London  will  depend,  partly  on  my  amusement,  and  your 
being  fixed  at  Sheffield  Place ;  unless  you  think  I  can  be 
comfortably  arranged  for  a  week  or  two  with  you  at  Brighton. 
The  military  remarks  seem  good  ;  but  now  to  what  purpose  ? 
Adieu.  I  embrace  and  much  rejoice  in  Louisa's  improvement. 
Lord  Ossory  J  was  from  home  at  Farning  Woods. 

To  the  same. 

London,  Friday,  November  8,  four  o'clock. 

Walpole  has  just  delivered  yours,  and  I  hasten  the  direction, 
that  you  may  not  be  at  a  loss.  I  will  write  to-morrow,  but  I 
am  now  fatigued,  and  rather  unwell.-  Adieu.  I  have  not 
seen  a  soul  except  Elmsley. 

To  the  same. 

St.  James's  Street,  November  9,  1793. 

As  I  dropt  yesterday  the  word  unwell,  I  flatter  myself  that 
the  family  would  have  been  a  little  alarmed  by  my  silence  to- 
day. I  am  still  awkward,  though  without  any  suspicions  of 
gout,  and  have  some  idea  of  having  recourse  to  medical  advice. 
Yet  I  creep  out  to-day  in  a  chair,  to  dine  with  Lord  Lucan.3 
But  as  it  will  be  literally  my  first  going  down  stairs,  and  as 
scarcely  any  one  is  apprised  of  my  arrival,  I  know  nothing,  I 
have  heard  nothing,  I  have  nothing  to  say.  My  present 
lodging,  a  house  of  Elmsley's  is  cheerful,  convenient,  some- 
what dear,  but  not  so  much  as  a  hotel,  a  species  of  habitation 
for  which  I  have  not  conceived  any  great  affection.4    Had  you 

1  [He  was  a  member  of  the  Literary  Club  (Boswell's  Johnson,  i.,  479).] 

2  [Chesterfield  wrote  on  October  8,  1755  :  "  I  am  what  you  call  in  Ireland, 
and  a  very  good  expression  I  think  it  is,  unwell"  (Chesterfield's  Misc.  Works, 
iv. ,  263).      Unwell  is  not  in  Johnson's  Dictionary.  ] 

:i  [He  was  a  member  of  the  Literary  Club  (Boswell's  Johnson,  i. ,  479).  He 
it  was  who  told  the  story  how  Johnson  said,  at  the  sale  of  Thrale's  brewery  : 
' '  We  are  not  here  to  sell  a  parcel  of  boilers  and  vats,  but  the  potentiality  of 
growing  rich  beyond  the  dreams  of  avarice"  (id. ,  iv.,  87).] 

4  [This  is  one  of  the  earliest  instances  to  be  found  of  the  use  of  hotel  for  inn. 
Hotel  is  not  in  Johnson's  Dictionary.  Gibbon  was  not  of  Johnson's  opinion 
when  he  said  :  "  No,  Sir  ;  there  is  nothing  which  has  yet  been  contrived  by  man 
by  which  so  much  happiness  is  produced  as  by  a  good  tavern  or  inn  "  (Boswell's 
Johnson,  ii. ,  452).] 


256  EDWARD  GIBBON  [179s 

been  stationary  at  Sheffield,  you  would  have  seen  me  before 
the  twentieth ;  for  I  am  tired  of  rambling,  and  pant  for  my 
home ;  that  is  to  say  for  your  house.  But  whether  I  shall 
have  courage  to  brave  .  .  .*  and  a  bleak  down,  time  only  can 
discover.  Adieu.  I  wish  you  back  to  Sheffield  Place.  The 
health  of  dear  Louisa  is  doubtless  the  first  object;  but  I  did 
not  expect  Brighton  after  Tunbridge.  Whenever  dear  little 
aunt  is  separate  from  you,  I  shall  certainly  write  to  her ;  but 
at  present  how  is  it  possible  ?     Ever  yours. 

To  the  same  at  Brighton. 
St.  James's  Street,  November  11,  1793. 

1  must  at  length  withdraw  the  veil  before  my  state  of 
health,  though  the  naked  truth  may  alarm  you  more  than  a 
fit  of  the  gout.  Have  you  never  observed,  through  my  in- 
expressibles, a  large  prominency,  circa  genitalia,  which,  as  it  was 
not  at  all  painful,  and  very  little  troublesome,  I  had  strangely 
neglected  for  many  years 2  ?  But  since  my  departure  from 
Sheffield  Place,  it  has  increased  (most  stupendously),  is  in- 
creasing, and  ought  to  be  diminished.3  Yesterday  I  sent  for 
Farquhar,4  who  is  allowed  to  be  a  very  skillful  surgeon.     After 

![In  the  original,  P.  of  W.  (Corres.,  ii. ,  393).  On  August  25  Miss  Holroyd 
described  a  drive  across  the  downs  to  the  Devil's  Dyke,  near  Brighton,  to  see  a 
field  day,  where  the  Prince  of  Wales  commanded  the  troops.  On  Nov.  1  she 
wrote  :  "  Ii  you  like  an  officer  there  will  be  plenty  at  Brighton,  for  the  Prince's 
Regt.  stays  there  all  the  winter.  I  hope  we  shall  not  be  too  fond  of  the  P. ,  and 
then  the  residence  will  not  be  unpleasant,  if  we  find  anybody  we  know"  (Girl- 
food  of  M.  J.  Holroyd,  pp.  234,  247).  It  was  her  father  who  was  likely  to  "  be 
too  fond  of  the  Prince".     See  ib.,  p.  228.] 

2  [Soon  after  Gibbon's  death  Malone  wrote  :  "  He  thought,  he  said,  when  he 
was  at  Althorp  last  Christmas  [he  was  there  in  October]  the  ladies  looked  a 
little  oddly.  The  fact  is  that  poor  Gibbon,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  imagined 
himself  rather  well-looking,  and  his  first  motion  in  a  mixed  company  of  ladies 
and  gentlemen  was  to  the  fire-place,  against  which  he  planted  his  back,  and 
then,  taking  out  his  snuff-box,  began  to  hold  forth.  In  his  late  unhappy  situa- 
tion it  was  not  easy  for  the  ladies  to  find  out  where  they  could  direct  their  eyes 
with  safety"  {Hist.  MSS.  Com.,  13th  Report,  App.  viii. ,  p.  231).] 

3  [A  parody  on  Dunning's  motion  [ante,  p.  207).] 

4  Now  Sir  Walter  Farquhar,  Baronet. — Sheffield.  [There  was  another 
Farquhar,  "not  of  the  Faculty,"  whom  nevertheless  Gibbon  advised  young 
SeVery  to  consult  (Read's  Hist.  Studies,  ii. ,  471).  See  also  Girlhood  of  M.  J. 
Holroyd,  pp.  218,  322,  356.] 


1793]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  257 

viewing  and  palping,1  he  very  seriously  desired  to  call  in 
assistance,  and  has  examined  it  again  to-day  with  Mr.  Cline, 
a  surgeon,  as  he  says,  of  the  first  eminence.2  They  both  pro- 
nounce it  a  hydrocele  (a  collection  of  water),  which  must  be  let 
out  by  the  operation  of  tapping  ;  but,  from  its  magnitude  and 
long  neglect,  they  think  it  a  most  extraordinary  case,  and 
wish  to  have  another  surgeon,  Dr.  Baillie,3  present.  If  the 
business  should  go  off  smoothly,  I  shall  be  delivered  from  my 
burthen  (it  is  almost  as  big  as  a  small  child)  and  walk  about 
in  four  or  five  days  with  a  truss.  But  the  medical  gentlemen, 
who  never  speak  quite  plain,  insinuate  to  me  the  possibility 
of  an  inflammation,  of  fever,  etc.  I  am  not  appalled  at  the 
thoughts  of  the  operation,  which  is  fixed  for  Wednesday  next, 
twelve  o'clock  ;  but  it  has  occurred  to  me,  that  you  might 
wish  to  be  present,  before  and  afterwards,  till  the  crisis  was 
past ;  and  to  give  you  that  opportunity,  I  shall  solicit  a  delay 
till  Thursday,  or  even  Friday.  In  the  meanwhile,  I  crawl 
about  with  some  labour,  and  much  indecency,  to  Devonshire 
House  (where  I  left  all  the  fine  ladies  making  flannel  waist- 
coats 4)  ;  Lady  Lucan's,  etc.  Adieu.  Varnish  the  business 
for  the  ladies :  yet  I  am  afraid  it  will  be  public ; — the  ad- 
vantage of  being  notorious.     Ever  yours. 

1  [Gibbon  anglicises  the  French palper — "toucher  avec  la  main  a  plusieurs 
reprises  et  en  pressant  legerement"  (Littr£).  Writing  of  his  proposed  retire- 
ment to  Lausanne  he  said  :  "  Je  me  suis  livre'  au  charme  delicieux  de  con- 
templer,  de  sonder,  de  palper  ce  bonheur"  (Carres. ,  ii. ,  50).] 

2[H.  C.  Robinson  (Diary,  ii. ,  251)  says  that  when  his  sister  in  1823  consulted 
Abernethy,  finding  Cline  had  seen  her,  he  said  :  "  Why  come  to  me  then  ?  You 
need  not  go  to  any  one  after  him.     He  is  a  sound  man." 

' '  Lord  Lansdowne  told  of  his  having  dined  with  Lord  Erskine,  just  after 
his  recovering  from  some  complaint,  of  which  he  had  been  cured  by  two 
leeches  ;  his  launching  out  in  praise  of  those  leeches,  and  at  last  starting  up  and 
ringing  the  bell,  saying,  '  I'll  show  them  to  you  '  ;  the  leeches  then  brought  up 
in  a  bottle,  and  sent  round  the  table  with  the  wine.  '  I  call  one  of  them  Cline,' 
said  Lord  Erskine,  '  and  the  other  Home'  (the  great  surgeons  of  the  day,  Mr. 
Cline  and  Sir  Everard  Home)"  (Memoirs  of  Thomas  Moore,  ed.  1854,  vi.,  243).] 

3  [Baillie  was  the  nephew  of  John  and  William  Hunter,  and  the  brother  of 
Joanna  Baillie.] 

4  For  the  soldiers  in  Flanders. — Sheffield.  {The  Annual  Register,  1793,  '•> 
5,  speaking  of  "  the  rigorous  winter  which  was  felt  throughout  Europe,"  says 
that  the  French  levies  suffered  less,  "  as  they  had  long  been  used  to  a  course  of 
living  that  qualified  them  to  endure  almost  every  species  of  hardship.  From 
the  high  price  of  fuel  they  were  particularly  inured  to  the  bearing  of  cold."] 

17 


258  EDWARD  GIBBON  [1793 

Immediately  on  receiving  the  last  letter,  I  went  the  same 
day   from   Brighthelmstone   to   London,    and   was   agreeably 
surprised  to  find  that  Mr.  Gibbon  had  dined  at  Lord  Lucan's 
and  did  not  return  to  his  lodgings,  where  I  waited  for  him  till 
eleven  o'clock  at  night.     Those  who  have  seen  him  within 
the  last  eight  or  ten  years,  must  be  surprised  to  hear  that  he 
could  doubt,  whether  his  disorder  was  apparent.1     When  he 
returned  to  England  in  1787,  I  was  greatly  alarmed  by  a  pro- 
digious increase,  which  I  always  conceived  to  proceed  from  a 
rupture.     I  did  not  understand  why  he,  who  had  talked  with 
me  on  every  other  subject  relative  to  himself  and  his  affairs 
without  reserve,  should  never  in  any  shape  hint  at  a  malady 
so  troublesome  ;  but  on  speaking  to  his  valet  de  chambre,  he 
told  me,  Mr.  Gibbon  could  not  bear  the  least  allusion  to  that 
subject,  and  never  would  suffer  him  to  notice  it.     I  consulted 
some  medical    persons,  who  with  me  supposing  it  to  be  a 
rupture,  were  of  opinion  that  nothing  could  be  done,  and  said 
that  he  surely  must  have  had  advice,  and  of  course  had  taken 
all    necessary  precautions.      He  now  talked  freely  with  me 
about  his  disorder;  which,  he  said,  began  in  the  year  1761  ; 
that  he  then  consulted  Mr.   Hawkins,2  the  surgeon,  who  did 
not  decide  whether  it  was  the  beginning  of  a  rupture,  or  an 
hydrocele ;  but  he  desired  to  see  Mr.  Gibbon  again  when  he 
came  to  town.      Mr.  Gibbon,  not  feeling  any  pain,  nor  suffer- 
ing any  inconvenience,   as   he  said,   never  returned  to   Mr. 
Hawkins ;  and  although  the  disorder  continued  to  increase 
gradually,    and   of  late  years   very   much  indeed,   he   never 
mentioned  it  to  any  person,  however  incredible  it  may  appear, 
from  1761  to  November  1793.3    I  told  him,  that  I  had  always 

1  [A  fortnight  before  his  death  Miss  Holroyd  wrote  :  "  He  seems  now  to  be 
sensible  of  the  peculiarity  of  his  appearance  "  {Girlhood,  etc.,  p.  259).] 

2  [Cassar  Hawkins.  Horace  Walpole,  in  1756,  describing  how  Lord  Digby 
was  operated  on  for  the  stone,  says  {Letters,  iii.,  9) :  "  He  was  cut  by  a  new 
instrument  of  Hawkins,  which  reduces  an  age  of  torture  to  but  one  minute".] 

3  [See  ante,  p.  240,  where  Gibbon  records  :  ' '  Since  I  have  escaped  from  the 
long  perils  of  my  childhood  the  serious  advice  of  a  physician  has  seldom  been 
requisite". 

"  Mr.  Fox  had  little  confidence  in  medical  skill,  and  less  curiosity,  even  on 
subjects  connected  with  the  health  and  management  of  the  human  body,  than 
on  any  other.     He  was  consequently  very  averse  to  relate  symptoms  which  put. 


1793]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  259 

supposed  there  was  no  doubt  of  its  being  a  rupture ;  his 
answer  was,  that  he  never  thought  so,  and  that  he,  and  the 
surgeons  who  attended  him,  were  of  opinion  that  it  was  an 
hydrocele.  It  is  now  certain  that  it  was  originally  a  rupture, 
and  that  an  hydrocele  had  lately  taken  place  in  the  same  part ; 
and  it  is  remarkable  that  his  legs,  which  had  been  swelled 
about  the  ankle,  particularly  one  of  them,  since  he  had  the 
erisipelas  in  1790,  recovered  their  former  shape,  as  soon  as 
the  water  appeared  in  another  part,  which  did  not  happen 
till  between  the  time  he  left  Sheffield  Place,  in  the  beginning 
of  October,  and  his  arrival  at  Althorpe,  towards  the  latter  end 
of  that  month.  On  the  Thursday  following  the  date  of  his 
last  letter,  Mr.  Gibbon  was  tapped  for  the  first  time ;  four 
quarts  of  a  transparent  watery  fluid  were  discharged  by  that 
operation.  Neither  inflammation  nor  fever  ensued ;  the  tumour 
was  diminished  to  nearly  half  its  size ;  the  remaining  part  was  a 
soft  irregular  mass.  I  had  been  with  him  two  days  before, 
and  I  continued  with  him  above  a  week  after  the  first  tapping, 
during  which  time  he  enjoyed  his  usual  spirits  ;  and  the  three 
medical  gentlemen  who  attended  him  will  recollect  his 
pleasantry,  even  during  the  operation.  He  was  abroad  again 
in  a  few  days,  but  the  water  evidently  collecting  very  fast,  it 
was  agreed  that  a  second  puncture  should  be  made  a  fortnight 
after  the  first.  Knowing  that  I  should  be  wanted  at  a  meet- 
ing in  the  country,  he  pressed  me  to  attend  it,  and  promised 
that  soon  after  the  second  operation  was  performed  he  would 
follow  me  to  Sheffield  Place  ;  but  before  he  arrived  I  received 
the  two  following  letters  : — 

Mr.  Gibbon  to  Lord  Sheffield,  at  Brighton. 

St.  James's  Street,  Nov.  25,  1793. 

Though  Farquhar  has  promised  to  write  you  a  line,  I  con- 
ceive you  may  not  be  sorry  to  hear  directly  from  me.     The 

him  to  no  immediate  inconvenience."  He  never  consulted  a  physician  about 
the  earlier  symptoms  of  an  illness  which  two  years  later  carried  him  off  (Lord 
Holland's  Memoirs,  etc.,  i. ,  250). 

Grote  "did  not  regard  as  of  any  importance,"  and  so  did  not  show  to  his 
doctor,  a  swelling,  which,  being  neglected,  ended  his  life  (Life  of  G rote ,  p.  326).] 


260  EDWAED  GIBBON  [179s 

operation  of  yesterday  was  much  longer,  more  searching,  and 
more  painful  than  the  former  ;  but  it  has  eased  and  lightened 
me  to  a  much  greater  degree.1  No  inflammation,  no  fever, 
a  delicious  night,  leave  to  go  abroad  to-morrow,  and  to  go 
out  of  town  when  I  please,  en  attendant  the  future  mea- 
sures of  a  radical  cure.  If  you  hold  your  intention  of  return- 
ing next  Saturday  to  Sheffield  Place,  I  shall  probably  join 
you  about  the  Tuesday  following,  after  having  passed  two 
nights  at  Beckenham.2  The  Devons  are  going  to  Bath,  and 
the  hospitable  Craufurd  follows  them.  I  passed  a  delightful 
day  with  Burke  ;  an  odd  one  with  Monsignor  Erskine,  the 
Pope's  Nuncio.  Of  public  news,  you  and  the  papers  know 
more  than  I  do.  We  seem  to  have  strong  sea  and  land  hopes  ; 
nor  do  I  dislike  the  Royalists  having  beaten  the  Sans  Culottes, 
and  taken  Dol.3  How  many  minutes  will  it  take  to  guillotine 
the  seventy-three  new  members  of  the  Convention,  who  are 
now  arrested  4  ?     Adieu  ;  ever  yours. 

St.  James's-St.,  Nov.  30,  1793. 

It  will  not  be  in  my  power  to  reach  Sheffield  Place  quite 
so  soon  as  I  wished  and  expected.     Lord  Auckland  informs 

1  Three  quarts  of  the  same  fluid  as  before  were  discharged. — SHEFFIELD. 

2  Eden  Farm. — Sheffield.  [Lord  Auckland  lived  there.  Gibbon,  in 
writing  to  him  to  propose  his  visit,  said  :  "  I  revere  Lady  Auckland  as  a  second 
Eve,  the  mother  of  nations"  (Misc.  Works,  ii.,  495).  Lord  Sheffield  says  in 
a  note  :  "The  allusion  is  to  the  births  of  her  children  in  England,  America, 
Ireland,  France,  Spain  and  Holland  ".  The  second  allusion  to  Eden  Farm  and 
to  Lord  Auckland's  family  name  of  Eden  he  does  not  notice.] 

3  [In  The  Morning  Chronicle,  Nov.  25, 1793,  news  is  reported  from  the  Jacobins 
of  Dinan  that  "  the  inhabitants  of  Dol  have  almost  all  fled  to  the  fort  of 
Chateauneuf  and  to  Saint  Malo.  We  are  going  to  remove  to  the  latter  the 
1,200  English  prisoners  who  are  here."] 

4  [In  the  same  paper  under  date  of  Paris,  Nov.  13,  Montaut  moved  that  "on 
the  21st  instant  the  Committee  of  General  Safety  give  a  report  on  the  73 
deputies  put  in  a  state  of  arrest  ".  Gibbon  apparently  misunderstood  the  para- 
graph, which  must  refer  to  the  Girondins,  who  had  been  arrested  many  months 
earlier.  "  Those  seventy-three  Secret  Protesters,  suddenly  one  day,  are  reported 
upon,  are  decreed  accused  ;  the  Convention-doors  being  '  previously  shut,' 
that  none  implicated  might  escape"  (Carlyle's  French  Revolution,  ed.  1857,  ii., 
276.  See  also  id.,  pp.  254,  262).  On  Oct.  30,  "twenty-one  of  them  were 
guillotined  in  thirty-seven  minutes,  between  eleven  and  twelve  in  the  forenoon  " 
{Ann.  Reg.,  1793,  ii. ,  51).  It  was  the  report  of  what  had  been  done  that  was 
now  moved  for.] 


1798]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  2G1 

me  that  he  shall  be  at  Lambeth  next  week,  Tuesday, 
Wednesday,  and  Thursday.  I  have  therefore  agreed  to  dine 
at  Beckenham  on  Friday.  Saturday  will  be  spent  there,  and 
unless  some  extraordinary  temptation  should  detain  me  an- 
other day,  you  will  see  me  by  four  o'clock  Sunday  the  ninth 
of  December.  I  dine  to-morrow  with  the  Chancellor  at 
Hampstead,1  and,  what  I  do  not  like  at  this  time  of  the  year, 
without  a  proposal  to  stay  all  night.  Yet  I  would  not  refuse, 
more  especially  as  I  had  denied  him  on  a  former  day.  My 
health  is  good  ;  but  I  shall  have  a  final  interview  with 
Farquhar  before  I  leave  town.  We  are  still  in  darkness  about 
Lord  Howe  and  the  French  ships,  but  hope  seems  to  pre- 
ponderate.2 Adieu.  Nothing  that  relates  to  Louisa  can  be 
forgotten.     Ever  yours. 

To  the  Same. 

St.  James's  Street,  Dec.  6",  1793. 

16  du  mois  Frimaire. 

The  man  tempted  me  and  I  did  eat3 — and  that  man  is  no  less  than 
the  Chancellor.  I  dine  to-day,  as  I  intended,  at  Beckenham  ; 
but  he  recalls  me  (the  third  time  this  week)  by  a  dinner  to- 
morrow (Saturday)  with  Burke  and  Windham,  which  I  do  not 
possess  sufficient  fortitude  to  resist.  Sunday  he  dismisses  me 
again  to  the  aforesaid  Beckenham,  but  insists  on  finding  me 
there  on  Monday,  which  he  will  probably  do,  supposing  there 
should  be  room  and  welcome  at  the  Ambassador's.4  I  shall 
not  therefore  arrive  at  Sheffield  till  Tuesday,  the  10th  instant, 
and  though  you  may  perceive  I  do  not  want  society  or  amuse- 
ment,   I   sincerely   repine   at  the   delay.     You   will   likewise 

1  [Lord  Loughborough  (ante,  p.  207),  whom,  at  the  beginning  of  the  year, 
Gibbon  had  congratulated  on  his  appointment  as  Lord  Chancellor  (Misc.  Works, 
ii. ,  486).  His  worthless  name  and  ill-earned  titles  are  preserved  at  Hampstead 
in  Wedderburne  Road,  Loughborough  Road,  and  Rosslyn  Hill.] 

2  [Six  months  later  Lord  Howe  gained  the  great  victory  of  the  First  of 
June.] 

3  ["The  serpent  beguiled  me,  and  I  did  eat"  (Genesis  iii.  13).] 
4 [Lord  Auckland,  Ambassador  at  the  Hague.] 


262  EDWARD  GIBBON  [179s 

derive  some  comfort  from  hearing  of  the  spirit  and  activity 
of  my  motions.  Farquhar  is  satisfied,  allows  me  to  go,  and 
does  not  think  I  shall  be  obliged  to  precipitate  my  return. 
Shall  we  never  have  anything  more  than  hopes  and  rumours 
from  Lord  Howe  ?     Ever  yours. 

Mr.  Gibbon  generally  took  the  opportunity  of  passing  a 
night  or  two  with  his  friend  Lord  Auckland/  at  Eden  Farm 
(ten  miles  from  London),  on  his  passage  to  Sheffield  Place ; 
and  notwithstanding  his  indisposition,  he  had  lately  made  an 
excursion  thither  from  London ;  when  he  was  much  pleased 
by  meeting  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,-  of  whom  he  ex- 
pressed an  high  opinion.  He  returned  to  London,  to  dine 
with  Lord  Loughborough,  to  meet  Mr.  Burke,  Mr.  Windham, 
and  particularly  Mr.  Pitt,  with  whom  he  was  not  acquainted ; 
and  in  his  last  journey  to  Sussex,  he  re-visited  Eden  Farm, 
and  was  much  gratified  by  the  opportunity  of  again  seeing, 
during  a  whole  day,  Mr.  Pitt,  who  passed  the  night  there. 
From  Lord  Auckland's  Mr.  Gibbon  proceeded  to  Sheffield 
Place ;  and  his  discourse  was  never  more  brilliant,  nor  more 
entertaining,  than  on  his  arrival.  The  parallels  which  he 
drew,  and  the  comparisons  which  he  made,  between  the 
leading  men  of  this  country,  were  sketched  in  his  best  manner, 
and  were  infinitely  interesting.  However,  this  last  visit  to 
Sheffield  Place  became  far  different  from  any  he  had  ever 
made  before.  That  ready,  cheerful,  various,  and  illuminating 
conversation,  which  we  had  before  admired  in  him,  was  not 
now  always  to  be  found  in  the  library  or  the  dining  room. 
He  moved  with  difficulty,  and  retired  from  company  sooner 
than  he  had  been  used  to  do.  On  the  twenty-third  of 
December,  his  appetite  began  to  fail  him.  He  observed  to 
me,  that  it  was  a  very  bad  sign  with  him  when  he  could  not 
eat  his  breakfast,  which  he  had  done  at  all  times  very  heartily  ; 

^George  III.  described  him  as  "an  eternal  intriguer"  (Stanhope's  Pitt,  iii., 
291).] 

"[Dr.  John  Moore,  Lord  Auckland's  brother-in-law  (ib. ,  iii.,  267).  See  The 
Rolliad  and  Probationary  Odes,  ed.  1799,  p.  477,  where  he  is||mentioned  in  A 
New  Ballad  entitled  and  called  Billy  £den.] 


1794]  MEMOIKS  OF  MY  LIFE  263 

and  this  seems  to  have  been  the  strongest  expression  of 
apprehension  that  he  was  ever  observed  to  utter.  A  con- 
siderable degree  of  fever  now  made  its  appearance.  Inflam- 
mation arose,  from  the  weight  and  the  bulk  of  the  tumour. 
Water  again  collected  very  fast,  and  when  the  fever  went  off, 
he  never  entirely  recovered  his  appetite  even  for  breakfast. 
I  became  very  uneasy  indeed  at  his  situation  towards  the  end 
of  the  month,  and  thought  it  necessary  to  advise  him  to  set 
out  for  London.  He  had  before  settled  his  plan  to  arrive 
there  about  the  middle  of  January.  I  had  company  in  the 
house,  and  we  expected  one  of  his  particular  friends ;  but  he 
was  obliged  to  sacrifice  all  social  pleasure  to  the  immediate 
attention  which  his  health  required.  He  went  to  London  on 
the  seventh  of  January,  and  the  next  day  I  received  the 
following  billet ;  the  last  he  ever  wrote  :  — 

Edward  Gibbon  Esq.  to  Lord  Sheffield. 

St.  James's  Street,  four  o'clock,  Tuesday. 

This  date  says  every  thing.  I  was  almost  killed  between 
Sheffield  Place  and  East  Grinsted,  by  hard,  frozen,  long  and 
cross  ruts,  that  would  disgrace  the  approach  of  an  Indian  wig- 
wam. The  rest  was  something  less  painful ;  and  I  reached 
this  place  half  dead,  but  not  seriously  feverish,  or  ill.  I  found 
a  dinner  invitation  from  Lord  Lucan  ;  but  what  are  dinners 
to  me  ?  I  wish  they  did  not  know  of  my  departure.  I  catch 
the  flying  post.1  What  an  effort!  Adieu,  till  Thursday  or 
Friday. 

By  his  own  desire,  I  did  not  follow  him  till  Thursday  the 
ninth.  I  then  found  him  far  from  well.  The  tumour  more 
distended  than  before,  inflamed,  and  ulcerated  in  several 
places.  Remedies  were  applied  to  abate  the  inflammation ; 
but  it  was  not  thought  proper  to  puncture  the  tumour  for  the 
third  time,  till  Monday  the   13th  of  January,  when  no  less 

1  ["  A  post  mjlying  coach,  the  ordinary  designation  for  a  swift  stage  coach  ' 
(New  Eng.  Diet.,  iv.,  374).] 


264  EDWARD  GIBBON  [179* 

than  six  quarts  of  fluid  were  discharged.  He  seemed  much 
relieved  by  the  evacuation.  His  spirits  continued  good.  He 
talked,  as  usual,  of  passing  his  time  at  houses  which  he  had 
often  frequented  with  great  pleasure,  the  Duke  of  Devon- 
shire's, Mr.  Craufurd's,  Lord  Spenser's,  Lord  Lucan's,  Sir 
Ralph  Payne's,  and  Mr.  Batt's ;  and  when  I  told  him  that  I 
should  not  return  to  the  country,  as  I  had  intended,  he  pressed 
me  to  go ;  knowing  I  had  an  engagement  there  on  public 
business,  he  said,  "You  may  be  back  on  Saturday,  and  I  intend 
to  go  on  Thursday  to  Devonshire-House".  I  had  not  any 
apprehension  that  his  life  was  in  danger,  although  I  began  to 
fear  that  he  might  not  be  restored  to  a  comfortable  state,  and 
that  motion  would  be  very  troublesome  to  him  ;  but  he  talked 
of  a  radical  cure.  He  said,  that  it  was  fortunate  the  disorder 
had  shown  itself  while  he  was  in  England,  where  he  might 
procure  the  best  assistance ;  and  if  a  radical  cure  could  not  be 
obtained  before  his  return  to  Lausanne,  there  was  an  able 
surgeon  at  Geneva,  who  could  come  to  tap  him  when  it  should 
be  necessary. 

On  Tuesday  the  fourteenth,  when  the  risk  of  inflammation 
and  fever  from  the  last  operations  was  supposed  to  be  over, 
as  the  medical  gentleman  who  attended  him  expressed  no 
fears  for  his  life,  I  went  that  afternoon  part  of  the  way  to 
Sussex,  and  the  following  day  reached  Sheffield  Place.  The 
next  morning,  the  sixteenth,  I  received  by  the  post  a  good 
account  of  Mr.  Gibbon,  which  mentioned  also  that  he  hourly 
gained  strength.  In  the  evening  came  a  letter  by  express, 
dated  noon  that  day,  which  acquainted  me  that  Mr.  Gibbon 
had  had  a  violent  attack  the  preceding  night,  and  that  it  was 
not  probable  he  could  live  till  I  came  to  him.  I  reached  his 
lodgings  in  St.  James's  Street  about  midnight,  and  learned 
that  my  friend  had  expired  a  quarter  before  one  o'clock  that 
day,  the  sixteenth  of  January,  1  794. 

After  I  left  him  on  Tuesday  afternoon  the  fourteenth,  he 
saw  some  company,  Lady  Lucan  and  Lady  Spencer,  and 
thought  himself  well  enough  at  night  to  omit  the  opium 
draught,  which  he  had  been  used  to  take  for  some  time.     He 


1794]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  265 

slept  very  indifferently  ;  before  nine  the  next  morning  he 
rose,  but  could  not  eat  his  breakfast.  However,  he  appeared 
tolerably  well,  yet  complained  at  times  of  a  pain  in  his 
stomach.  At  one  o'clock  he  received  a  visit  of  an  hour  from 
Madame  de  Sylva,  and  at  three,  his  friend,  Mr.  Craufurd, 
of  Auchinames  (for  whom  he  had  mentioned  a  particular 
regard),  called,  and  stayed  with  him  till  past  five  o'clock. 
They  talked,  as  usual,  on  various  subjects  ;  and  twenty  hours 
before  his  death,  Mr.  Gibbon  happened  to  fall  into  a  con- 
versation, not  uncommon  with  him,  on  the  probable  duration 
of  his  life.  He  said,  that  he  thought  himself  a  good  life  for 
ten,  twelve,  or  perhaps  twenty  years.1  About  six,  he  ate  the 
wing  of  a  chicken,  and  drank  three  glasses  of  Madeira.2 
After  dinner  he  became  very  uneasy  and  impatient ;  com- 
plained a  good  deal,  and  appeared  so  weak,  that  his  servant 
was  alarmed.  Mr.  Gibbon  had  sent  to  his  friend  and  relation, 
Mr.  Robert  Darell,3  whose  house  was  not  far  distant,  desiring 
to  see  him,  and  adding,  that  he  had  something  particular 
to  say.  But,  unfortunately,  this  desired  interview  never  took 
place. 

During  the  evening  he  complained  much  of  his  stomach, 
and  of  a  disposition  to  vomit.  Soon  after  nine,  he  took  his 
opium  draught,  and  went  to  bed.  About  ten,  he  complained 
of  much  pain,  and  desired  that  warm  napkins  might  be 
applied  to  his  stomach.  He  almost  incessantly  expressed  a 
sense  of  pain  till  about  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when 
he  said  he  found  his  stomach  much  easier.  About  seven  the 
servant  asked,  whether  he  should  send  for  Mr.  Farquhar  ?  he 
answered  no ;  that  he  was  as  well  as  he  had  been  the  day 
befoi*e.     At  about  half-past  eight,  he  got  out  of  bed,  and  said 

1  [Ante,  p.  243.] 

2  [Miss  Holroyd  wrote  on  Jan.  n  {Girlhood,  etc.,  p.  260) :  "  The  surgeons 
ordered  bark  every  six  hours,  and  five  glasses  of  Madeira  at  dinner  ".  General 
Read,  in  1879,  was  shown  by  M.  de  Severy,  in  his  house  at  Lausanne  (33  Rue 
de  Bourg),  '"  twenty  bottles  of  Gibbon's  own  Madeira.  In  1874  the  wine  was 
found  to  be  still  in  excellent  condition  "  {Hist.  Studies,  ii.,  475).] 

3 [Ante,  p.  26,  n.  His  brother  Edward  was  one  of  Gibbon's  executors 
{post,  p.  268).  One  of  the  Darells  Gibbon  consulted  about  his  investments 
{Carres.,  ii.,  376).] 


266  EDWARD  GIBBON  [179* 

he  was  plus  adroit  than  he  had  been  for  three  months  past, 
and  got  into  bed  again,  without  assistance,  better  than  usual. 
About  nine,  he  said  that  he  would  rise.  The  servant,  however, 
persuaded  him  to  remain  in  bed  till  Mr.  Farquhar,  who  was 
expected  at  eleven,  should  come.  Till  about  that  hour  he 
spoke  with  great  facility.  Mr.  Farquhar  came  at  the  time 
appointed,  and  he  was  then  visibly  dying.  When  the  valet  de 
chambre  returned,  after  attending  Mr.  Farquhar  out  of  the 
room,  Mr.  Gibbon  said,  "  Pourquoi  est-ce  que  vous  me  quitlez  ?  " 
This  was  about  half-past  eleven.  At  twelve,  he  drank  some 
brandy  and  water  from  a  teapot,  and  desired  his  favourite 
servant  to  stay  with  him.  These  were  the  last  words  he 
pronounced  articulately.  To  the  last  he  preserved  his  senses : 
and  when  he  could  no  longer  speak,  his  servant  having  asked 
a  question,  he  made  a  sign,  to  show  that  he  understood  him. 
He  was  quite  tranquil,  and  did  not  stir ;  his  eyes  half-shut. 
About  a  quarter  before  one,  he  ceased  to  breathe.1 

The  valet  de  chambre  observed,  that  Mr.  Gibbon  did  not, 
at  any  time,  show  the  least  sign  of  alarm,  or  apprehension  of 
death  ;  and  it  does  not  appear  that  he  ever  thought  himself 
in  danger,  unless  his  desire  to  speak  to  Mr.  Darell  may  be 
considered  in  that  light. 

Perhaps  I  dwell  too  long  on  these  minute  and  melancholy 
circumstances.  Yet  the  close  of  such  a  life  can  hardly  fail 
to  interest  every  reader  2  ;  and  I  know  that  the  public  has 
received  a  different  and  erroneous  account  of  my  friend's  last 
hours. 

I  can  never  cease  to  feel  regret  that  I  was  not  by  his  side 
at  this  awful  period  :  a  regret  so  strong,  that  I  can  express 
it  only  by  borrowing  (as  Mr.  Mason  has  done  on  a  similar 
occasion  :i)  the  forcible  language  of  Tacitus  :  Mild  prceter  acer- 

1  [For  the  surgeon's  post-mortem  report  see  Misc.  Works,  i.,  424.] 
2[Hannah  More  recorded  on  Jan.  19,  1794  :  "  Heard  of  the  death  of  Mr. 
Gibbon,  the  calumniator  of  the  despised  Nazarene,  the  derider  of  Christianity. 
Awful  dispensation  !  He  too  was  my  acquaintance.  Lord,  I  bless  Thee,  con- 
sidering how  much  infidel  acquaintance  I  have  had,  that  my  soul  never  came 
into  their  secret  !  How  many  souls  have  his  writings  polluted  !  Lord  preserve 
others  from  their  contagion  !  "] 

3  [Mason's  Gray's  Works,  ed.  1807,  ii.,  319.] 


1794]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  267 

bitalem  amici  erepti,  angel  mcestitiam  quod  assidere  valetudini, 
fovere  dejiaentem,  satiari  vuliii,  complexu,  non  eontigit.1  It  is 
some  consolation  to  me,  that  I  did  not,  like  Tacitus,  by  a 
long  absence,  anticipate  the  loss  of  my  friend  several  years 
before  his  decease.  Although  I  had  not  the  mournful  grati- 
fication of  being  near  him  on  the  day  he  expired,  yet  during 
his  illness  I  had  not  failed  to  attend  him  with  that  assiduity 
which  his  genius,  his  virtues,  and,  above  all,  our  long  un- 
interrupted, and  happy  friendship  sanctioned  and  demanded. 

1  [In  the  original:  "  Sed  mihi  filiaeque  ejus  prseter  acerbitatem  parentis 
erepti,"  etc.  (Tacitus,  Agricola,  c.  xlv. ).  "  As  for  me  and  thy  daughter,  besides 
all  the  bitterness  of  a  father's  loss,  it  increases  our  sorrow  that  it  was  not  per- 
mitted us  to  watch  over  thy  failing  health,  to  comfort  thy  weakness,  to  satisfy 
ourselves  with  those  looks,  those  embraces  "  (Church  &  Brodribb).] 


POSTSCRIPT 

Mr.  Gibbon's  Will  is  dated  the  1st  of  October,  1791,  just 
before  I  left  Lausanne  ;  he  distinguishes  me,  as  usual,  in  the 
most  nattering  manner  : — 

"  I  constitute  and  appoint  the  Right  Honourable  John  Lord 
Sheffield,  Edward  Darell,  Esquire,  and  John  Thomas  Batt, 
Esquire,  to  be  the  Executors  of  this  my  last  Will  and  Testa- 
ment ;  and  as  the  execution  of  this  trust  will  not  be  attended 
with  much  difficulty  or  trouble,  I  shall  indulge  these  gentle- 
men, in  the  pleasure  of  this  last  disinterested  service,  without 
wronging  my  feelings,  or  oppressing  my  heir,  by  too  light  or 
too  weighty  a  testimony  of  my  gratitude.  My  obligations  to 
the  long  and  active  friendship  of  Lord  Sheffield,  1  could  never 
sufficiently  repay."  1 

He  then  observes,  that  the  Right  Hon.  Lady  Eliot,  of  Port 
Eliot,  is  his  nearest  relation  on  the  father's  side  2 ;  but  that 
her  three  sons  are  in  such  prosperous  circumstances,  that  he 
may  well  be  excused  for  making  the  two  children  of  his  late 
uncle,  Sir  Stanier  Porten,3  his  heirs  ;  they  being  in  a  very 
different  situation.  He  bequeaths  annuities  to  two  old 
servants,   three    thousand    pounds,   and   his   furniture,   plate, 

1  ["  Serena"  Holroyd  wrote  the  day  after  his  death  :  "  I  have  not  time  to 
write  his  own  words  to  account  for  leaving  the  executors  nothing,  though  it  is 
expressed  well,  and  we  cannot  doubt  his  regard  for  my  brother  "  (Girlhood, 
etc.,  p.  265). 

Lord  Sheffield's  daughter  shows  how  useful  his  friendship  had  been  to 
her  father  :  "  He  is  a  particular  loss  to  papa.  There  is  no  other  person  who 
has  half  the  influence  that  poor  man  had.  The  best  sense  was  always  guided 
by  the  best  judgment.  ...  Of  what  unspeakable  consequence  would  his  cool 
and  unprejudiced  advice  have  been  to  him  at  this  critical  time.  .  .  .  Even  he 
could  not  entirely  prevent  papa  from  taking  some  steps  that  he  thought  im- 
prudent ;  but  he  had  power  to  restrain  him  in  some  of  his  impetuosities ;  but 
this  friend  gone,  who  is  there  who  has  the  least  influence  over  him  ?  "  (Girlhood, 
etc.,  pp.  266,  269.)] 

2[Ante,  p.  21.]  3[Ante,  p.  26,  n.  3.] 

(268) 


1794]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  269 

etc.,  at  Lausanne,  to  Mr.  Wilhelm  de  Severy  x ;  one  hundred 
guineas  to  the  poor  of  Lausanne,  and  fifty  guineas  each  to  the 
following  persons  :  Lady  Sheffield  and  daughters,  Maria  and 
Louisa,  Madame  and  Mademoiselle  de  Severy,  the  Count  de 
Schomberg,2  Mademoiselle  la  Chanoinesse  de  Polier,3  and 
M.  le  Ministre  Le  Vade,4  for  the  purchase  of  some  token 
which  may  remind  them  of  a  sincere  friend.5 

1  [Ante,  p.  236,  n.  Gibbon  in  his  will  says  of  him,  "  whom  I  wish  to  style  by 
the  endearing  name  of  son"  (Read's  Hist.  Studies,  ii. ,  474).  The  Severy 
family  preserve  in  their  Chateau  of  Mex  "  a  quantity  of  Gibbon's  letter-paper, 
with  the  blotting-paper  and  quill  pens  in  daily  use  "  (id. ,  p.  471).  In  their  house 
at  Lausanne,  33  Rue  de  Bourg,  is  "  a  fine  kit-cat  of  him  "  (ib. ,  p.  474).] 

2  [Gibbon  mentions  him  in  1790  among  the  French  exiles.  "  He  is  a  man  of 
the  world,  of  letters,  and  of  sufficient  age,  since  in  1753  he  succeeded  to  Marshal 
Saxe's  regiment  of  Dragoons  "  (Corns.,  ii. ,  223).] 

3  [Deyverdun  mentions  some  members  of  this  family  as  among  those  who,  at 
Lausanne,  "  font  un  fonds  de  bonne  compagnie  dont  on  ne  se  lasse  point" 
(**.,  ii.,  43).] 

4  [He  had  arranged  Gibbon's  library  (Girlhood,  etc.,  p.  66).] 

5  [By  a  will  made  in  1788  he  left  his  step-mother  an  annuity  of  ^200  over 
and  above  her  jointure  (Auto.,  p.  421).  In  1769  he  had  written  to  his  father  : 
"  Should  Mrs.  G.  still  object  to  the  increase  of  her  jointure,  I  must  leave  it  as 
an  engagement  not  of  law,  but  of  honour,  of  gratitude  and  of  inclination  " 
(Gibbon  Cor  res. ,  i. ,  104).  ' '  Serena  "  Holroyd  wrote  soon  after  his  death  :  ' '  She 
is  grieved  at  not  being  named  in  the  will.  .  .  .  She  is  not  angry,  but  affection- 
ately grieved"  (Girlhood,  etc.,  p.  280). 

The  original  of  this  will  is  at  the  end  of  the  Gibbon  MSS.  in  the  British 
Museum.     The  signature  has  been  cut  out,  the  gap  being  skilfully  concealed.] 


EPITAPH  OF  EDWARD  GIBBON 

The  Remains  of  Mr.  Gibbon  were  deposited  in  Lord  Sheffield's 
Family  Burial-Place,  in  Fletching,  Sussex,1  whereon  is  in- 
scribed the  following  Epitaph,  written  at  my  request  by  a 
distinguished  scholar,  the  Rev.  Dr.   Parr  2  : — 

EDVARDUS  GIBBON 

CRITICUS    ACRI    INGENIO    ET    MULTIPLICI    DOCTRINA    ORNATUS 

IDEMQUE    HISTORICORUM    QUI    FORTUNAM 

IMPERII   ROMANI 

VEL    LABENTIS    ET    INCLINATI    VEL    EVERSI    ET    FUNDITUS    DELETI 

LITTERIS    MANDAVERINT 

OMNIUM    FACILE    PRINCEPS 

CUJUS    IN    MORIBUS    ERAT    MODERATIO    ANIMI 

CUM    LIBERALI    QUADAM    SPECIE    CONJUNCTA 

IN    SERMONE 

MULT  A    [mULT^e]    GRAVITATI    COMITAS    SUAVITER    ADSPERSA 

IN    SCRIPTIS 

COPIOSUM    SPLENDIDUM 

CONCINNUM    ORBE    VERBORUM 

ET    SUMMO    ARTIFICIO    DISTINCTUM 

ORATIONIS    GENUS 

RECONDITE    EXQUISITjEQUE    SENTENTIyE 

et  in  monumentis  [momentis]   RERUM   POLITICARUM  OBSERVANDIS 

ACUTA    ET    PERSPICAX    PRUDENTIA 

VIXIT    ANNOS    LVI    MENS.    VII    DIES    XXVIII 

DECESSIT    XVII    CAL.    FEB.    ANNO    SACRO 

MDCCLXXXXIV 

ET    IN    HOC    MAUSOLEO    SEPULTUS    EST 

EX    VOLUNTATE    JOHANNIS    DOMINI    SHEFFIELD 

QUI    AMICO    BENE    MERENTI    ET    CONVICTORI    HUMANISSIMO 

H.    TAB.    [D.S.S.]    P.    C. 

1  ["  The  funeral  was  conducted  with  the  greatest  simplicity  at  Mr.  Gibbon's 
desire,  only  his  own  servants  attending  the  hearse"  (Girlhood,  etc.,  p.  267).] 

2  [Lord  Sheffield  little  knew  the  time  Parr  took  over  his  epitaphs.  Writing 
to  him  on  February  19,  1796,  he  hoped  to  include  it  in  the  Memoirs,  "  which," 
he  said,  "  are  likely  to  be  published  towards  the  middle  of  next  month".     It 

(270) 


MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  271 

was  not  till  October,  1797,  that  he  received  it.  In  his  modesty  he  asked  that  in 
the  lines  referring  to  himself,  "  viri  prasnobilis  "  and  "  de  suo  sumptu,"  originally 
inserted,  should  be  omitted.  He  so  little  understood  the  Roman  Calendar  that 
he  said  there  was  "  a  mistake  in  respect  to  the  time  of  Mr.  Gibbon's  death. 
That  unhappy  event  took  place  on  the  16th  January,  not  on  the  17th  February." 
In  a  later  letter  he  wrote  :  "  I  am  really  much  edified  by  what  you  say  on  the 
Roman  Calendar.  I  had  never  examined  that  subject  with  the  accuracy  you 
and  Mr.  Gibbon  have  done".  His  family  burial-place  he  described  as  "  orna- 
mented in  the  Gothic  style"  (Parr's  Works,  viii.,  562). 

"  Morum  simplicitas  "  was  in  one  draft  of  the  epitaph.  Fox,  to  whom  Parr 
had  sent  it,  wrote  in  reply  :  "  How  far  morum  simplicitas  is  a  just  account  of 
Gibbon  may  perhaps  be  doubted.  But  in  these  cases  we  must  look  for  the 
language  rather  of  partiality  than  of  strict  truth"  (Parr's  Works,  viii.,  563). 

"  In  lapidary  inscriptions," said  Johnson,  "a  man  is  not  upon  oath"  (Boswell's 
/o/inson,  ii. ,  407). 

The  epitaph,  as  inscribed,  contains  two  errors— one  of  the  two  of  great  im- 
portance. For  "  multa  gravitati  comitas,"  etc. ,  read  "  Multee  gravitati  comitas," 
etc.,  and  for  "  in  monumentis,"  "  in  momentis  ".  The  last  line,  moreover,  as 
written  by  Parr,  was  "  H.  Tab.  D.  S.  S.  P.  C."  (Parr's  Works,  iv.,  574).] 


APPENDIX 

1.  GENTILITY  AND  TRADE  (p.  9). 

Gibbon,  in  The  Decline,  vi.,  259,  under  date  of  a.d.  1099,  says  of  Peter  the 
Hermit :  "He  was  born  of  a  gentleman's  family  (for  we  must  now  adopt  a 
modern  idiom) ". 

"Will  Wimble's  is  the  case  of  many  a  younger  bi-other  of  a  great  family, 
who  had  rather  see  their  children  starve  like  gentlemen  than  thrive  in  a 
trade  or  profession  that  is  beneath  their  quality.  This  humour  fills  several 
parts  of  Europe  with  pride  and  beggary.  It  is  the  happiness  of  a  trading 
nation  like  ours  that  the  younger  sons,  though  incapable  of  any  liberal  art  or 
profession,  may  be  placed  in  such  a  way  of  life  as  may  perhaps  enable  them 
to  vie  with  the  best  of  their  family  ;  accordingly,  we  find  several  citizens  that 
were  launched  into  the  world  with  narrow  fortunes  rising,  by  an  honest 
industry,  to  greater  estates  than  those  of  their  elder  brothers"  (Addison, 
The  Spectator,  No.  108). 

Voltaire  wrote  from  England  in  1731 :  "Le  cadet  d'un  pair  du  royaume  ne 
d6daigne  point  le  negoce.  Mylord  Townshend,  ministre  d  6tat,  a  un  frere  qui 
se  contente  d'etre  marchand  dans  la  Cite\  Dans  le  temps  que  mylord  Oxford 
gouvernait  l'Augleterre,  son  cadet  6tait  facteur  a  Alep.  .  .  .  Cette 
coutume,  qui  pourtant  commence  trop  a  se  passer,  parait  monstrueuse  a  des 
Allemands  entet^s  de  leurs  quartiers  ;  ils  ne  sauraient  concevoir  que  le  fils 
d'un  pair  d'Angleterre  ne  soit  qu'un  riche  et  puissant  bourgeois,  au  lieu  qu'en 
Allemagne  tout  est  prince"  (CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  ed.  1819,  xxiv.,  44).  For 
Nathanael  Harley,  of  Aleppo,  see  Collins's  Peerage,  ed.  1756,  iii.,  303. 
Thomas  Harley,  Lord  Mayor  of  London  in  1768,  was  the  son  of  the  third  Earl 
of  Oxford. 

"An  English  merchant,"  said  Johnson,  "is  a  new  species  of  gentleman" 
(Boswell's  Johnson,  i.,  491,  n. ).  Boswell  himself,  after  stating  the  claims  made 
for  this  "new  system  of  gentility,"  continues:  "Such  are  the  specious,  but 
false  arguments  for  a  proposition  which  always  will  find  numerous  advocates, 
in  a  nation  where  men  are  every  day  starting  up  from  obscurity  to  wealth. 
To  refute  them  is  needless.  The  general  sense  of  mankind  cries  out,  with 
irresistible  force,    'Un  gentilhomme  est  toujours  gentilhomme'." 

Blackstone  (Commentai ies,  ed.  1775,  ii.,  215)  includes  among  "the  incon- 
veniences that  attend  the  splitting  of  estates,  the  inducing  younger  sons  to 
take  up  with  the  business  and  idleness  of  a  country  life,  instead  of  being 
serviceable  to  themselves  and  the  public  by  engaging  in  mercantile,  in  mili- 
tary, in  civil,  or  in  ecclesiastical  employments  ". 

"The  merchant  is  the  friend  of  mankind"  (The  Decline,  v.,  324). 

2.  WILLIAM  LAW  (p.  21). 

(a)  Law  a  Nonjuror. 

Law  as  Fellow  of  Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge,  "being  called  upon, 
soon  after  the  accession  of  George  I.,  to  take  the  oaths  prescribed  by  Act  of 

18  (273) 


274  APPENDIX 

Parliament,  and  to  sign  the  Declaration,  refused  to  do  so  ;  in  consequence  of 
which  he  vacated  his  fellowship "  (Law's  Serious  Call,  ed.  1814 ;  preface, 
p.  1).  Thomas  Hearne,  in  like  manner,  was  deprived  of  his  post  as  Second 
Keeper  of  the  Bodleian  (Hearne's  Remains,  iii.,  192).  The  oaths  were  those 
of  supremacy  by  which  "the  Pope's  pretended  authority"  was  renounced, 
and  of  abjuration  by  which  any  claim  of  the  Pretender  was  renounced.  It 
had  to  be  taken  "by  all  persons  in  any  office,  trust,  or  employment" 
(Blackstone's  Commentaries,  ed.  1775,  i.,  368). 

Johnson,  in  his  Life  of  Fenton,  describes  that  poet's  "refusing  to  qualify 
himself  for  public  employment  by  the  oaths  required"  as  " perverseness  of 
integrity".  See  also  Boswell's  Johnson,  ii.,  321,  for  his  ill  opinion  of  the 
nonjurors  ;  and  Hearne's  Remarks  and  Collections,  ed.  C.  E.  Doble,  Preface, 
p.  6,  for  Professor  Mayor's  defence  of  them. 

Swift  advised  a  Jacobite  friend  to  comply  with  the  law.  "For  my  own 
part,"  he  wrote,  "I  do  not  see  any  law  of  God  or  man  forbidding  us  to  give 
security  to  the  powers  that  be  ;  and  private  men  are  not  to  trouble  them- 
selves about  titles  to  Crowns,  whatever  may  be  their  particular  opinions. 
The  abjuration  is  understood  as  the  law  stands  ;  and,  as  the  law  stands,  none 
has  title  to  the  Crown  but  the  present  possessor "  (Swift's  Letters  to  Chet- 
wode,  p.  87). 

{b)  Law's  Attacks  on  the  Stage. 

It  was  in  The  Absolute  Unlawfuhiess  of  Stage  Entertainments  fully 
Demonstrated  that  Law  attacked  the  Stage.  Gibbon  refers  to  the  following 
passages  (pp.  14,  18,  42) :  "The  Play -House  is  as  certainly  the  House  of  the 
Devil  as  the  Church  is  the  House  of  God.  ...  It  belongs  to  the  Devil, 
and  is  the  Place  of  his  Honour.  .  .  .  The  Place  of  the  Devil's  Abode, 
where  he  holds  his  filthy  Court  of  evil  Spirits.  .  .  .  An  Entertainment, 
where  he  was  at  the  Head  of  it ;  where  the  whole  of  it  was  in  order  to  his 
Glory.  ...  A  Place  that  as  certainly  belongs  to  the  Devil  as  the  heathen 
Temples  of  old,  where  wanton  Hymns  were  sung  to  Venus,  and  drunken 
Songs  to  the  God  of  Wine.  .  .  .  You  must  consider  that  all  the  Laughter 
there  is  not  only  vain  and  foolish,  but  that  it  is  a  Laughter  amongst  Devils, 
that  you  are  upon  profane  Ground,  and  hearing  Musick  in  the  very  Porch  of 
Hell."  Law  went  on  to  maintain  that  "the  Stage  never  has  one  innocent 
play". 

For  John  Dennis's  argument  in  defence  of  the  Stage  see  Overton's  Law, 
p.  38. 

(c)  Law  and  the  Banoorian  Controversy. 

In  1709  "one  Hoadley,  a  pious  and  judicious  divine,"  in  a  sermon  before 
the  Lord  Mayor,  maintained  "that  it  was  not  only  lawful,  but  a  duty  incum- 
bent on  all  men,  to  resist  bad  and  cruel  governors  "  (Burnet's  Hist,  of  His 
Own  Time,  iv.,  229).  When  the  House  of  Commons  impeached  Sacheverell, 
an  address  was  voted  to  the  Queen,  "that  she  would  be  graciously  pleased  to 
bestow  some  dignity  in  the  Church  on  Mr.  Hoadly,  for  his  eminent  services 
both  to  the  Church  and  State  ".  She  answered  "that  she  would  take  a  proper 
opportunity  to  comply  with  their  desires ;  which,  however,  she  never  did  " 
{Pari.  Hist.,  vi.,  808).  Soon  after  the  accession  of  George  I.  he  was  rewarded 
with  the  Bishopric  of  Bangor,  worth,  according  to  Whiston,  £800  a  year.  He 
held  it  "for  six  entire  years,"  Whiston  adds,  "without  ever  seeing  that 
diocese  in  his  life ;  to  the  great  scandal  of  religion "  {Life  of  W.  Whiston, 
ed.  1749,  p.  244).  In  1717  a  sermon  and  another  publication  of  his  were  con- 
demned by  a  Committee  of  Convocation.  The  Government  stopped  further 
proceedings  by  a  prorogation.  From  that  date  till  1861  Convocation  was 
never  allowed  to  meet  as  a  deliberative  body  {Johnsonian  Miscellanies,  ii., 
369,  ;/.,  and  Boswell's  Johnson,  i.,  464). 


APPENDIX  275 

Hoadley  was  promoted  from  Bangor,  through  Hereford  and  Salisbury,  to 
Winchester,  while  his  brother  was  made  Archbishop  of  Armagh.  "He  was 
preached  and  wrote  against  all  over  the  kingdom,"  said  the  Nonjuror  Hearne, 
"occasioned  chiefly  by  a  penny  sermon  of  his,  which,  had  they  let  it  alone, 
would  have  died  in  a  fortnight's  time  ;  to  such  little  beginnings  do  some  men 
owe  their  rise"  (Heame's  Remains,  iii.,  157).    ' 

"In  1717  Law  wrote  his  Three  Letters  to  the  Bishop  of  Bangor.  .  .  . 
Dean  Hook  said  'they  have  never  been  answered,  and  may  indeed  be 
regarded  as  unanswerable'  (Church  Dictionary:  Art.  Bangorian  Contro- 
versy) "  (Overton's  Law,  p.  19). 

In  June,  1735,  Hoadley  published  anonymously  A  Plain  Account  of  the 
Nature  and  End  of  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  (Gent.  Mag.,  1735, 
p.  335).  In  Auto.,  p.  25,  Gibbon  has  the  following  note  on  this  work:  "By 
the  pen  of  an  angel,  says  Adams  (I.A.L.,  i.  c.  17) — I  think  out  of  character  ". 
The  reference  is  to  Fielding's  Joseph  Andrews,  liber  1,  caput  17.  Parson 
Adams  says  :  "If  you  mean  by  the  clergy  some  few  designing  factious  men, 
who  have  it  at  heart  to  establish  some  favourite  schemes  at  the  price  of  the 
liberty  of  mankind,  and  the  very  essence  of  religion,  it  is  not  in  the  power  of 
such  persons  to  decry  any  book  they  please ;  witness  that  excellent  book 
called  A  Plain  Account  of  the  Nature  and  End  of  the  Sacrament ;  a  book 
written  (if  I  may  venture  on  the  expression)  with  the  pen  of  an  angel ". 

Law's  answer,  A  Demonstration  of  the  Gross  and  Fundamental  Errors,  &c, 
was  published  in  April,  1737  (Gent.  Mag.,  1737,  p.  257). 

(d)  Law  and  "The  Fable  of  the  Bees". 

Law's  answer  was  entitled :  Remarks  upon* a  Late  Book  entitled  the  Fable 
of  the  Bees,  &c,  1724,  80.  F.  D.  Maurice  edited  it  in  1844,  at  the  request  of 
John  Sterling,  who  wrote  to  him:  "The  first  section  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  philosophical  essays  I  have  ever  seen  in  English.  You  probably 
know  Law  as  perhaps  the  most  perfect  of  controversial  writers,  whether  right 
or  wrong  in  his  argument "  (Preface,  p.  1). 

" Everything,  according  to  Mandeville, "  wrote  Adam  Smith,  "is  luxury 
which  exceeds  what  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the  support  of  human  nature, 
so  that  there  is  vice  even  in  the  use  of  a  clean  shirt,  or  of  a  convenient 
habitation.  .  .  .  Though  his  system,  perhaps,  never  gave  occasion  to 
more  vice  than  what  would  have  been  without  it,  at  least  it  taught  that  vice 
which  arose  from  other  causes  to  appear  with  more  effrontery,  and  to  avow 
the  corruption  of  its  motives  with  a  profligate  audaciousness  which  had  never 
been  heard  of  before"  (Theory  of  Moral  Sentiments,  ii.,  270,  274). 

Fielding  makes  Miss  Matthews,  a  woman  of  loose  character,  praise  "that 
charming  fellow,  Mandeville"  (Amelia,  Bk.  iii.,  ch.  5). 

Gibbon  himself  shows  the  influence  of  Mandeville  when  he  maintains  that 
"luxury,  though  it  may  proceed  from  vice  or  folly,  seems  to  be  the  only 
means  that  can  correct  the  unequal  distribution  of  property  "  ( The  Decline, 
i.,  53).     See  also  Boswell's  Johnson,  iii.,  292. 

(e)  Law's  "Serious  Gall". 

Johnson,  who  read  the  Serious  Call  at  College,  said  :  "I  found  Law  quite 
an  overmatch  forme"  (Boswell's  Johnson,  i.,  68).  "The  Serious  Call,  he 
said,  "was  the  finest  piece  of  hortatory  theology  in  any  language"  (id.,  ii., 
122).  "William  Law,  Sir,"  he  said,  "wrote  trie  best  piece  of  Paranetick 
Divinity,  but  William  Law  was  no  reasoner  "  (ib.,  iv.,  287,  «.).  Mrs.  Thrale, 
in  one  of  her  "studied  epistles "  (id.,  iii.,  421),  wrote  to  Johnson  :  "  You  used 
to  say  you  would  not  trust  me  with  that  author  upstairs  on  the  dressing-room 
shelf,  yet  I  now  half  wish  I  had  never  followed  any  precepts  but  his" 
(Piozzi  Letters,  ii.,  214). 


276  APPENDIX 

Hannah  More  {Memoirs,  ii.,  435)  recommended  the  Serious  Call  to  the 
Earl  of  Orford  (Horace  Walpole)  and  aome  ladies  as  "a  book  that  their 
favourite  Mr.  Gibbon  had  highly  praised.  They  have  promised  to  read  it ; 
and  I  know  they  will  be  less  afraid  of  Gibbon's  recommendation  than  of 
mine  ". 

The  chapters  in  which  Gibbon  said  that  his  two  aunts  are  described  are 
the  seventh  and  eighth.  They  have  the  following  titles  :  ' '  How  the  impru- 
dent use  of  an  estate  corrupts  all  the  tempers  of  the  mind,  and  fills  the  heart 
with  poor  and  ridiculous  passions,  through  the  whole  course  of  life  ;  represented 
in  the  character  of Flavia."  "How  the  wise  and  pious  use  of  an  estate  naturally 
carrieth  us  to  great  perfection  in  all  the  virtues  of  the  Christian  life  ;  repre- 
sented in  the  character  of  Miranda."  The  Serious  Call  was  published  in  1729, 
seven  years  before  Mr.  Gibbon's  death,  when  Hester  Gibbon  was  twenty -five 
years  old.  Nevertheless,  Flavia  and  Miranda  are  described  as  having  had  the 
management  of  their  estates  for  twenty  years  ;  so  that  if  Gibbon's  aunts 
resembled  them,  it  must  have  been  by  imitation  on  their  part,  and  not  on 
the  part  of  the  author. 


3.  GIBBON'S  KINSMEN  THE  ACTONS  (p.  24). 

Edward  Acton,  who  was  the  great-grandson  of  the  second  baronet,  Sir 
Walter  Acton,  by  his  second  son  Walter,  attended  at  Besancon  Gibbon's 
father,  who  was  the  great-grandson  of  the  same  baronet  by  his  third  son 
Richard.  Edward  Acton's  eldest  son,  John,  ' '  a  naval  officer  in  the  service 
of  Leopold  of  Tuscany,  was  sent  for  to  organise  the  Neapolitan  army  and 
navy.  He  was  made  general,  then  captain-general  of  the  kingdom,  and, 
lastly,  premier,  or  rather  sole-minister  (for  the  other  ministers  were  merely 
his  creatures),  and  in  this  office  he  remained  many  years.  His  administration 
was  neither  so  economical  nor  so  wise  as  that  of  Tanucci,  his  predecessor. 
.  .  .  Yet  a  considerable  degree  of  liberty  of  speech,  and  even  of  the  press, 
prevailed,  and  the  country  was  prosperous  and  the  people  contented  until 
the  French  Revolution,  of  which  Naples  felt  the  shock"  {Penny  Cyclo.,  x., 
230).     He  died  in  1811. 

Lord  Holland,  who  visited  Naples  in  January,  1794,  says.,  that  ' '  the 
suspicious  policy  of  the  court,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Queen  and  General 
Acton,  had  peopled  the  prisons  with  those  of  their  subjects  most  eminent  for 
birth,  manners,  or  acquirements  "  {Memoirs  of  the  Whig  Party,  ed.  1852, 
i.,  55). 

In  1791  General  Acton  succeeded  to  the  family  title  as  sixth  baronet.  One 
of  his  sons,  who  was  born  nine  years  after  the  historian's  death,  became  a 
Cardinal.     The  present  Lord  Acton  is  the  General's  grandson. 

The  General's  uncle  at  Leghorn  was  Richard  Acton.  Gibbon,  who  visited 
him  at  Pisa,  recorded  on  24th  September,  1764:  "Je  plains  beaucoup  ce 
pauvre  vieillard.  A  l'age  de  soixante  ans,  il  se  trouve  abandonne'  de  tous  les 
Anglais,  pour  avoir  change1  de  religion  ;  accable'  d'infirmit^,  sans  espe>ance  de 
revoir  son  pays,  il  se  fixe  parmi  un  peuple  dont  il  n'a  jamais  pu  apprendre  la 
langue"  {Misc.   Works,  i.,  195).     See  also  Corres.,  i.,  37. 


4.  THE  BOROUGH  OF  PETERSFIELD  (p.  25). 

"  Edward  Gibbon,  father  [grandfather]  of  the  Gibbon,  bought  Petersfield 
in  1719.  In  1739  it  passed  by  purchase  to  the  Jolliffe  family  "  (Woodward's 
Hist,  of  Hampshire,  iii.,  320).  If  the  date,  1739,  is  correct,  it  was  not,  as 
Gibbon  says,  his  grandfather  (he  died  in  1730)  who  "alienated  such  important 
property,"  but  his  father.  Whoever  it  was,  it  was  not  Petersfield  that  he 
possessed,  but  "a  weighty  share"  in  it.     The  grandfather  never  represented 


APPENDIX  277 

the  borough.  His  son  was  once  member,  at  the  general  election  of  1 735.  As 
Sir  W.  Jolliffe  was  the  other  member  (Pari.  Hist.,  ix.,  626),  he  most  likely 
was  the  co-owner,  till  by  purchase  he  acquired  the  entire  interest.  The 
Gibbons  still  retained  "  the  estate  and  manor  of  Beriton,  otherwise  Buriton, 
near  Petersfield  "  (ante,  p.  116). 

The  advantage  of  being  the  owner  of  a  borough  that  was  "a  burgage 
tenure  "  is  shown  in  The  Probationary  Odes,  ed.  1799,  p.  302,  where  it  is  said 
of  Warren  Hastings's  wife  : — 

"  Oh  !  Pitt,  with  awe  behold  that  precious  throat, 
Whose  necklace  teems  with  many  a  future  vote  ! 
Pregnant  with  Burgage  gems  each  hand  she  rears. " 

Pitt,  in  his  Reform  Bill  of  1785,  proposed  to  compensate  the  owners  of 
thirty-six  small  boroughs,  which  were  to  be  disfranchised,  at  the  cost  (it  was 
said)  of  £1,000,000  (Pari.  Hist.,  xxv.,  442,  445). 

On  11th  May,  1820,  the  freeholders  of  Petersfield  petitioned  the  House  of 
Commons  against  the  return  of  Hylton  Jolliffe  and  Baron  Hotham.  The 
Mayor,  they  said,  the  Rev.  J.  Whicher,  who  acted  as  Returning  Officer,  "had 
been  elected  at  a  Court  Leet  nominated  by  the  Steward  of  the  Court  Leet,  of 
which  Jolliffe  claims  to  be  the  Lord,  whereas  he  ought  to  be  elected  at  such 
Court  Leet  by  a  jury  selected  by  the  Bailiff  of  the  Borough  ". 

In  a  later  petition,  presented  on  16th  November,  1830,  the  same  complaints 
were  made.  The  Steward,  it  was  added,  was  the  solicitor  of  the  Lord  of  the 
Manor.  Freeholders  had  their  votes  rejected  because  "they  were  not  in 
possession  of  their  title  deeds,  although  they  had  for  several  years  been  in 
possession  of  the  property  for  which  they  claimed  to  vote,  and  as  evidence  of 
their  title  had  tendered  attested  copies  of  the  deeds  which  Hylton  Jolliffe  and 
his  solicitor  refused  to  produce,  though  they  admitted  that  they  were  in  his 
possession  as  the  owner  of  the  largest  portion  of  the  property  held  under  the 
same  title".  The  petitioners  added  that  "the  votes  of  many  persons  were 
received  who  were  not  the  bona  fide  owners  of  freehold  tenements,  but  merely 
possessed  of  estates  fraudulently  and  collusively  conveyed  to  them  by 
Jolliffe.  in  order  to  qualify  them  to  vote". 

The  petitioners  of  1820  had  maintained  that  "  the  right  of  voting  is  in  the 
Burgesses  (being  the  inhabitants,  householders  paying  scot  and  lot),  and  in 
the  freeholders  of  lands  in  general,  and  in  freeholders  of  ancient  dwelling- 
houses  or  shambles,  or  dwelling-houses  or  shambles  built  upon  ancient 
foundations,  within  the  Borough,  not  restricted  to  houses  or  shambles  of 
burgage  tenure  ".  The  Select  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  reported 
that  "the  right  of  election  is  in  the  freeholders  of  lands  or  ancient  dwelling- 
houses  or  shambles,  or  dwelling-houses  or  shambles  built  upon  ancient 
foundations  within  the  Borough,  such  lands  and  dwelling-houses  being  entire 
ancient  tenements  ". 

A  second  committee  sitting  the  following  year  made  a  report  on  30th  May 
in  the  same  words,  with  the  exception  that  the  last  two  lines  ran  "such  lands, 
dwelling  houses,  and  shambles  not  being  restricted  to  entire  ancient  tene- 
ments ".  All  three  committees  rejected  the  petitions,  leaving  the  Lord  of  the 
Manor  full  power  to  elect  whom  he  pleased. 

Blackstone  says  (Commentaries,  ed.  1775,  ii.,  82):  "Where  the  right  of 
election  is  by  burgage  tenure,  that  alone  is  a  proof  of  the  antiquity  of  the 
borough.  Tenure  in  burgage  therefore,  or  burgage  tenure,  is  where  houses  or 
lands  which  were  formerly  the  site  of  houses,  in  an  ancient  borough,  are  held 
of  some  lord  in  common  socage,  by  a  certain  established  rent." 

5.  PH^EDRUS  (p.  36). 

Pattison,  describing  Casaubon's  reception  in  Paris  ' '  by  the  best  set  in  the 
capital,"  continues  :   "  This  circle  of  men,  a  society  such  as  even  Paris  has  not 


278  APPENDIX 

been  able  to  produce  again,  consisted  chiefly  of  members  of  the  bar,  or 
magistrature.  Their  centre  of  resort  was  the  house  of  J.  A.  de  Thou 
[Thuanus,  ante,  p.  6],  the  historian,  president  of  the  court  of  parlement. 
Their  presiding  genius  had  been  Pierre  Pithou,  who  was  just  lost  to  them  by 
death,  1596  "  {Isaac  Casaubon,  ed.  1892,  p.  115). 

Pithou  had  been  a  Protestant.  "Having  escaped  almost  miraculously 
from  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  in  1572,  he  secured  his  future  safety 
by  turning  Papist"  (Monk's  Life  of  Bentley,  ii.,  236). 

Monk  (/'£.,  ii.,  2.30)  says  of  Bentley's  edition  of  P/urdrus :  "Never  did  he 
more  expose  himself  to  the  attacks  of  enemies  than  when,  at  the  suggestion 
of  pique  and  resentment,  he  launched  this  puny  and  meagre  performance  into 
the  troubled  waters  of  criticism.  ...  It  terminated  his  friendship  with  his 
old  correspondent  Burman.  This  indefatigable  scholar  had  already  printed 
three  editions  of  the  Fabulist.  He  was  filled  with  amazement  at  the 
numerous  and  daring  changes  of  the  text."  In  a  fourth  edition  by  reprinting 
the  Epistola  Critica,  in  which  Hare  had  reviewed  Bentley's  notes,  he  gave 
great  offence  (ib.,  p.  235). 

"Burman,"  wrote  Gibbon,  "was  a  mere  critic,  without  being  (in  my 
opinion)  a  good  one,  since  a  good  critic  must  reason  well ;  and  Burman  never 
could  reason  at  all"  [Misc.  Works,  v.,  224).  Johnson  published  a  brief  life  of 
him  in  The  Gent.  Mag,  for  1742,  p.  206  ;  reprinted  in  Johnson's  Works,  vi., 
396.     See  also  ante,  p.  59. 

6.  FAIRY  TALE  ENGRAVED  IN  GIBBON'S  MEMORY  (p.  38). 

The  tale  is  in  Hypolitus,  Eqrl  of  Douglas  (London,  1708),  a  translation  of 
Hvpolite,  Comte  de  Duglas,  by  M.  C.  La  Mothe,  Countess  d'Aulnoy  (Lyon, 
1699).  "  The  faithful  Hypolitus  "  in  pursuit  of  "  the  most  admirable  Julia  " 
arrived  at  an  Abbey,  where  the  Abbess  asked  him  to  tell  a  story.  He  told 
how  the  Russian  King,  Adolph,  losing  his  way  in  hunting,  arrived  at  the 
Cave  of  the  Winds.  Zephyrus  bore  him  away  to  the  Isle  of  Felicity,  where 
he  was  entertained  by  the  Princess.  One  day  she  asked  him  how  long  he 
thought  he  had  been  there.  "I  think  it  cannot  be  much  less  tban  three 
months,"  he  replied.  She  burst  out  laughing.  "Dear  Adolph,"  said  she  with 
a  very  serious  air,  "  you  must  know  it  is  no  less  than  three  hundred  years." 
He  was  struck  with  shame  at  having  done  no  glorious  action  in  all  that  time, 
and  insisted  on  leaving  her  to  render  himself  more  worthy  of  her  favours. 
She  gave  him  a  horse  which  would  bear  him  safely  home  so  long  as  he  did  not 
touch  the  ground  before  he  reached  his  own  country.  In  the  way  lay  a  cart 
overthrown,  laden  with  wings  of  divers  shapes  and  sizes,  and  by  it  the  carter, 
a  very  old  man,  who  called  for  help.  The  King  alighted,  when  up  sprang  the 
old  man,  calling  out :  "At  last  I  have  met  you.  My  name  is  Time.  I  have 
been  in  search  of  you  these  three  ages.  I  have  worn  out  all  these  wings  to 
find  you  out."  At  these  words  he  stifled  the  King.  Zephyrus  carried  his 
dead'body  back  to  the  Palace  of  Felicity.  "Since  that  fatal  day  nobody  has 
got  sight  of  the  Princess  "  (pp.  176-196). 

7.  GIBBON  AT  WESTMINSTER  SCHOOL  (p.  39). 

Gibbon  was  not  clear  as  to  the  earlier  dates  in  his  life.  The  death  of  his 
mother  he  placed  both  in  1746  and  1747  (Auto.,  pp.  45,  221,  295).  His 
grandfather  Porten's  bankruptcy  he  placed  in  the  spring  of  1747  and  1748 
(ib.,  pp.  48,  119,  223).  In  one  account  it  was  in  February,  1751,  that  he 
became  Francis's  pupil,  and  in  another  account  in  January,  1752  (ib.,  pp.  55, 
116).  Of  bis  time  at  Westminster  School  he  gives  three  different  accounts. 
According  to  the  text  he  entered  in  January,  1749 ;  the  date  of  his  departure 


APPENDIX  279 

he  does  not  give.  In  a  second  memoir  he  says  he  passed  "  two  years  and  a 
half  at  the  school — from  January,  1748,  to  August,  1750"  (Auto.,  p.  115).  In 
a  third  account  he  says  :  "I  continued  near  two  years  (from  Christmas,  1748, 
to  August,  1750)  "  {to.,  p.  221).  He  consulted  Dr.  Vincent,  headmaster,  in 
1793,  who  replied  :  "  From  Dr.  Nichol's  book,  which  is  in  my  possession,  you 
were  entered  in  Januaiy,  1748.  It  was  the  same  year  I  was  entered  myself  in 
the  September  following.  Your  age  is  noticed,  as  is  that  of  all  the  others  in 
Dr.  N.  s  book,  which  makes  you  nine  years  old  in  1748.  .  .  .  Dr.  Vincent  is 
sure  of  his  own  memory  when  he  asserts  that  he  remembers  Mr.  Gibbon  at 
Mrs.  Porten's  house  in  1748,  as  he  lived  next  door"  (Misc.  Works,  ii.,  489). 
In  January,  1748,  Gibbon  was  ten. 

Mr.  J.  Sargeaunt,  the  author  of  Annals  of  Westminster  School,  informs  me 
that  "  Vincent  was  a  very  accurate  man  ". 

If  the  earlier  dates  are  correct,  it  was  not  the  twelfth  but  the  eleventh  year 
of  Gibbon's  age  that  was  "  the  most  propitious  to  the  growth  of  his  intellectual 
stature  "  ;  and  it  was  not  the  loss  of  three  but  of  four  "  precious  years  "  that 
he  had  to  lament  (ante,  p.  43). 

The  headmaster's  name  Gibbon  gives  correctly  in  the  text — John  Nicoll  ; 
though  elsewhere  he  writes  it  Nichols  (Auto.,  pp.  116,  221),  as  did  Cowper 
and  Cumberland.  Cowper,  who  at  the  age  of  eighteen  left  the  school  not  long 
after  Gibbon  entered,  says  of  Nicoll's  preparation  of  the  boys  for  confirmation  : 
"  The  old  man  acquitted  himself  of  this  duty  like  one  who  had  a  deep  sense  of 
its  importance,  and  I  believe  most  of  us  were  struck  by  his  manner,  and 
affected  by  his  exhortations"  (Southey's  Cowper,  i.,  13). 

According  to  Cumberland,  the  dramatist  (Memoirs,  i.,  71-2),  who  left 
Westminster  about  three  years  earlier  than  Cowper,  Nicoll  "had  the  art  of 
making  his  scholars  gentlemen  ".  Cumberland  tells  how  he  and  some  of  his 
schoolfellows  one  day,  escaping  from  the  Abbey  service,  went  and  disturbed 
a  meeting  of  Quakers.  They  were  reported  by  a  monitor.  "  When  my  turn 
came  to  be  called  up  to  the  Master,  I  presume  he  saw  my  contrition,  when, 
turning  a  mild  look  upon  me,  he  said  aloud,  '  Erubuit,  salva  est  res  '  *  ;  and 
sent  me  back  to  my  seat ". 

Bentham,  who  entered  Westminster  about  five  years  after  Gibbon,  says 
that  a  scheme  was  formed  for  erecting  houses  in  Dean's  Yard  for  people  who 
wished  to  send  their  sons  to  the  school.  No  tenant  was  found  "except  one 
woman,  who  was  an  aunt  of  Gibbon.  The  scheme  failed  ;  and  when  half  a 
dozen  houses  were  built  no  new  funds  were  forthcoming,  and  they  were  either 
pulled  down,  or  were  left  to  decay"  (Bentham's  Works,  x.,  29).  "The 
discipline  of  these  houses  was  supposed  to  be  under  the  control  of  one  of  the 
masters,  who  received  a  fee  from  the  dame.  It  was  sometimes  little  more 
than  a  name.  Of  the  masters  some  at  least  were  content  to  act  only  when 
the  boys  interfered  with  their  personal  comfort.  Perhaps  few  were  like 
Dodd,  the  actor's  son,  who  allowed  his  father  to  come  drunk  from  Drury 
Lane  and  play  his  part  again  to  an  audience  of  striplings  and  infants  "  (Sar- 
geaunt's  Annals,  etc.,  p.  159). 

Under  Dr.  Nicoll's  successor  the  school  seems  to  have  suffered.  According 
to  Bentham  "  it  was  a  wretched  place  for  instruction.  .  .  .  He  often  spoke  of 
the  tyranny  and  cruelty  of  the  fagging  system.  '  It  was,'  he  said,  'a  horrid 
despotism.  .  .  .  Our  great  glory  was  Dr.  Markham  [the  headmaster,  after- 
wards Archbishop  of  York] .  He  had  a  large  quantity  of  classical  knowledge. 
His  business  was  rather  in  courting  the  great  than  in  attending  to  the  school. 
Any  excuse  served  his  purpose  for  deserting  his  post ' "  (Bentham's  Works,  x., 
30,  34). 

In  1779  six  of  the  boys  were  tried  at  the  Quarter  Sessions  for  wounding  a 
man  in  Dean's  Yard.  One  of  them,  with  a  drawn  knife  in  his  hand,  said,  "  If 
you  don't  kneel  down  and  ask  pardon,  I  will  rip  you  up, "  which  the  man  was 

*  "He  blushes;  all  is  well"  (Terence,  Adelphi,  iv.,  5.  9). 


280  APPENDIX 

compelled  to  do  to  save  his  life.  Four  of  them  were  sentenced  to  a  month's 
imprisonment  and  £100  fine  to  be  paid  among  them  ;  but  if  they  would  in 
court  ask  the  prosecutor's  pardon  on  their  knees,  as  they  had  compelled  him 
to  ask  theirs,  the  court  would  take  off  the  imprisonment.  They  absolutely 
refused  asking  pardon  on  their  knees.  The  sentence  stood  thus  for  about  an 
hour,  when  the  father  of  one  of  the  four  told  the  court  that  his  son  was 
elected  to  Christ  College,  Oxford,  and  must  go  there  in  a  few  days  or  lose 
his  election.  On  this  the  court  took  off  his  imprisonment.  This  being  done 
some  of  the  magistrates  moved  that  the  rest  might  have  their  imprisonment 
taken  off  also.  On  a  division  it  was  carried  by  nine  to  seven.  They  were 
then  directed  to  make  the  prosecutor  satisfaction.  Their  friends  paid  him 
£50,  and  his  attorney  £20  for  the  costs  {Annual  Register,  1779,  i.,  213). 

Southey,  who  entered  Westminster  in  1788,  speaking  of  the  advantages 
which  a  day-scholar  in  every  school  has  over  a  boarder,  says  :  "  He  suffers 
nothing  from  tyranny,  which  is  carried  to  excess  in  schools.  .  .  .  Above  all, 
his  religious  habits,  which  it  is  almost  impossible  to  retain  at  school,  are  safe. 
I  would  gladly  send  a  son  to  a  good  school  by  day  ;  but  rather  than  board 
him  at  the  best,  I  would,  at  whatever  inconvenience,  educate  him  myself  " 
( Southey 's  Life  a?id  Carres.,  i.,  80). 


8.  AUTHORS  READ  BY  GIBBON  IN  HIS  BOYHOOD  (p.  44). 
(a)  Thomas  Hearne. 

Ductor  Historicus  ;  or  a  Short  System  of  Universal  History,  &c.  By  iThomas 
Hearne.     Oxford,  1704.     8vo.     2  vols. 

Gibbon,  in  his  Address  on  our  Latin  Memorials  of  the  Middle  Ages  (Misc. 
Works,  iii.,  566),  says:  "The  last  who  has  dug  deep  into  the  mine  was 
Thomas  Hearne,  a  clerk  of  Oxford,  poor  in  fortune,  and,  indeed,  poor  in 
understanding.  His  minute  and  obscure  diligence,  his  voracious  and  undis- 
tinguishing  appetite,  and  the  coarse  vulgarity  of  his  taste  and  style,  have 
exposed  him  to  the  ridicule  of  idle  wits.  Yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
Thomas  Hearne  has  gathered  many  gleanings  of  the  harvest ;  but  if  his  own 
prefaces  are  filled  with  crude  and  extraneous  matter,  his  editions  will  be 
always  recommended  by  their  accuracy  and  use." 

Pope  addresses  him  in  The  Dunciad  (iii.,  189) : — 

"To  future  ages  may  thy  dulness  last, 
As  thou  preserv'st  the  dulness  of  the  past." 

Gray's  friend,  Richard  West,  wrote  The  Reply  of  Time  to  Tom  Hearne : — 

"  Ho  !  ho  !  cried  Time  to  Thomas  Hearne, 
Whatever  I  forget,  you  learn." 

(Walpole's  Letters,  i.,  1.) 

(d)  Littlebury's  "Herodotus". 

The  ^Egyptian  and  Grecian  History  of  Herodotus.  Translated  from  the 
Greek  by  Isaac  Littlebury.  2  vols.  8vo.  1709.— In  spite  of  its  lameness  it 
reached  a  third  edition  in  1737  (Gent.  Mag.,  1737,  p.  578). 

(c)  Spelman's  "Xenophon". 

The  Expedition  of  Cyrus  into  Persia.  Translated,  with  notes,  by  Edward 
Spelman,  Esq.  London,  1742.  2  vols.  8vo.— Gibbon  described  it  as  "one 
of  the  most  accurate  and  elegant  prose  translations  that  any  language  has 
produced  "  (Misc.   Works,  v.,  587). 


APPENDIX  281 

(d)  Gordon's  "Taoitus". 

The  Works  of  Tacitus.  By  Thomas  Gordon.  London,  1728-31.  Folio. 
2  vols. — The  second  edition,  in  4  vols.  8vo,  is  advertised  in  The  Gent.  Mag., 
1737,  p.  320.  Mr.  Arthur-  Galton  reprinted  in  1890  portions  of  Gordon's 
translation,  to  which  he  prefixed  an  interesting  introduction  (London : 
Walter  Scott). 

{e)  Pbocopius. 

The  History  of  the  Warres  of  the  Emperor  Justinian.  Written  in  Greek  by 
Procopius,  and  Englished  by  H.  Holcroft,  Knight.  London,  1653.— For 
Gibbon's  estimate  of  Procopius  see  The  Decline,  iv.,  210.  Macaulay,  in  the 
opening  of  his  History  of  England,  after  recounting  a  ghostly  story  of  one 
province  of  our  island,  continues:  "Such  were  the  marvels  which  an  able 
historian  [Procopius]  .  .  .  gravely  related  in  the  rich  and  polite  Constanti- 
nople, touching  the  country  in  which  the  founder  of  Constantinople  had 
assumed  the  imperial  purple  ". 

(/)  John  Speed. 

Speed  published  in  1611  The  Theatre  of  the  Empire  of  Great  Britaine  and 
The  History  of  Great  Britaine  under  the  Conquests  of  ye  Roma7is,  Saxons, 
Danes  and  Normans. 

(g)   FvAPIN. 

Voltaire,  speaking  of  works  of  great  merit,  wrote  in  1752:  "  La  nation 
francaise  est  de  toutes  les  nations  celle  qui  a  produit  le  plus  de  ces  ouvrages. 
Sa  langue  est  devenue  la  langue  de  l'Europe  :  tout  y  a  contribue"  ...  les 
pasteurs  calvinistes  refugies,  qui  ont  porte  l'eloquence,  la  m^thode  dans  les 
pays  etrangers  ;  .  .  .  un  Rapin  de  Thoyras,  qui  a  donne  en  francais  la  seule 
bonne  histoire  d'Angleterre     {CEuvrcs  de  Voltaire,  xviii.,  265). 

In  The  Gent.  Mag.,  1731,  p.  90,  is  advertised:  "  The  History  of  England, 
&c,  by  M.  De  Rapin  Thoyras  [sic].  Done  into  English  by  N.  Tindal,  M.A. 
Vol.  XIV." — There  were  fifteen  volumes  in  all.  Tindal  dedicated  it  to  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  "  who  was  so  pleased  that  he  gave  him  a  gold  medal  worth 
forty  guineas"  {Gent.  Mag.,  1733,  p.  357). 

(h)  Mezeray. 

Mezeray's  Histoire  de  France  was  translated  by  John  Bulteel  in  1683. 
To  Mezeray  Sainte-Beuve  gives  two  of  his  Can series  du  Lu?idi,  viii.,  194- 
233. 

Prior  wrote  some  lines  in  a  copy  of  the  History,  beginning : — 

"  Whate'er  thy  countrymen  have  done 
By  law  and  wit,  by  sword  and  gun, 
In  thee  is  faithfully  recited." 

(Prior's  Poetical  Works,  ed.  1858,  p.  102.)     See  Lockhart's  Scott,  ed.  1S39,  x., 
81,  for  Scott's  recitation  of  them. 

(i)  Da vila. 

Davila's  Historia  delle  Guerre  civili  di  Francia  was  translated  by  Cotterell 
and  Aylesbury  in  1647-48.  — "Davila,  it  is  said,  was  one  of  John  Hampden's 
favourite  writers"  (Macaulay's  Essays,  ed.  1874,  i.,  442). 

(j)  Machiavel. 

The  translation  of  Machiavel  began  as  early  as  1562  (Lowndes's  Biol. 
Man.,  p.  1438). 


282  APPENDIX 

(k)  Fra  Paolo  Sarpi. 

Gibbon,  writing  of  Fra  Paolo  Sarpi,  says:  "Whoever  will  give  himself 
the  trouble,  or  rather  the  pleasure,  of  perusing  that  incomparable  historian," 
&c.  (Alisc.  Works,  iv.,  551).  Johnson  began  to  translate  his  History  of  the 
Council  of  Trent  (Boswell's  Johnson,  i.,  135).  "He  is  my  favourite  modern 
historian,"  wrote  Macaulay  (Life,  ed.  1877,  ii.,  285). 

(/)  Archibald  Bower. 

Bower's  History  of  the  Popes  was  published  in  1748-66.  4to.  7  vols.  Price, 
£4  4s.- — Gibbon  wrote  of  him  in  1764:  "He  is  a  rogue  unmasked,  who 
enjoyed  for  twenty  years  the  favour  of  the  public,  because  he  had  quitted  a 
sect  [the  Jesuits]  to  which  he  still  secretly  adhered,  and  because  he  had  been 
a  counsellor  of  the  inquisition  in  the  town  of  Macerata,  where  an  inquisition 
never  existed "  (Misc.  Works,  v.,  464).  He  was  one  of  the  writers  of  the 
Universal  History  (Johnson's  Letters,  ii.,  433).  Goldsmith  introduces  him  in 
Retaliation  among  the  "quacking  divines".  See  also  Horace  Walpole's 
Letters,  ii.,  209,  508. 

(m)  Lawrence  Eachard. 

Of  Eachard's  Roman  History,  5  vols.,  8vo,  London,  1707,  "Vols.  1,  2 
only  are  professedly  written  by  Eachard  ;  the  subsequent  vols,  purport  to 
be  continuations  by  another  hand "  (Brit.  Mus.  Cat. ).  The  continuation 
was  carried  down  to  the  taking  of  Constantinople  \>y  the  Turks.  "He  stole 
his  Roman  History  from  Dr.  Howell's  History,  without  so  much  as  making 
acknowledgment'  (Hearne's  Collections,  i.,  297). 

(n)  William  Howell. 
Howell's  History  of  the  World  was  published  in  1680-85. 

(o)  Rev.  Simon  Ockley. 

Hearne  wrote  of  Ockley  in  1706  :  "  Being  naturally  inclin'd  to  ye  study  of 
ye  Oriental  Tongues,  he  was,  when  abt  17  years  of  Age,  made  Hebrew 
Lecturer  in  ye  said  College  [Queen's  College,  Cambridge],  chiefly  because  he 
was  poor,  and  could  hardly  subsist.  In  ye  Arabick  Language  he  is  said  by 
some  Judges  to  be  ye  best  skill'd  of  any  Man  in  England"  (Hearne's  Collec- 
tions, i.,  245). 

Gibbon,  mentioning  his  History  of  the  Saracens,  continues  :  "  Besides  our 
printed  authors,  he  draws  his  materials  from  the  Arabic  MSS.  of  Oxford, 
which  he  would  have  more  deeply  searched,  had  he  been  confined  to  the 
Bodleian  Library  instead  of  the  City  Jail ;  a  fate  how  unworthy  of  the  man 
and  of  his  country  "  ( The  Decline,  vi.,  4).     He  died  in  1720. 

(p)  Abulpharaqius. 

"  Consult,  peruse,  and  study  the  Specimen  Histories  Arabum  of  Pocock  ! 
(Oxon.,  1650,  in  4to.)  The  thirty  pages  of  text  and  version  are  extracted 
from  the  Dynasties  of  Gregory  Abulpharagius,  which  Pocock  afterwards 
translated"  (The  Decline,  v.,  314).  See  also  id.,  v.,  155,  for  Gibbon's  praise 
of  Abulpharagius  as  "a  poet,  physician  and  historian,  a  subtle  philosopher 
and  a  moderate  divine  ". 

(q)  Cellarius. 

Notitia  Orbis  Antiqui,  sive  Geographia  Plenior.  By  Christopher  Cellarius. 
1703-6.  2  vols.— Gibbon,  after  reading  Emmius's  Geographical  Description 
of  Greece,  wrote  :  "It  contributed  a  good  deal  to  confirm  me  in  the  contempt- 
ible idea  I  always  entertained  of  Cellarius  "  (Misc.   Works,  v.,  286). 


APPENDIX  283 

(r)  Dr.   Edward  Wells. 

An  Historical  Geography  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament.  By  Edward 
Wells,  D.D.     1708-11. 

(s)  Strauchius. 

Strauchius  (iEgidius  Strauch)  published  in  1697  Dissertatio  historico- 
ckronologica  de  epocha  mundi  conditi. 

(t)  Helvicus. 

Christophorus  Helvicus  published  in  1609  Theatrum  Historicum,  sive 
Chronologies  systema  novum,  &c. 

(u)  James  Anderson. 

James  Anderson's  Royal  Genealogies  ;  or  the  Genealogical  Tables  of  Emperors, 
Kings  and  Princes  from  Adam  to  these  Times  was  published  in  1732. 

(v)  Archbishop  Usher. 

A  /males  Veteris  et  Novi  Testamenti,  1050-54.  Usher  published  also  an 
English  version.  "Usher,"  said  Johnson,  "was  the  great  luminary  of  the 
Irish  Church  ;  and  a  greater,  he  added,  no  Church  could  boast  of  ;  at  least 
in  modern  times"  (Boswell's  Johnson,  ii.,  132). 

(w)  Dr.  Humphrey  Prideaux. 

The  Old  and  New  Testament  Connected,  &c.  By  Humphrey  Prideaux, 
D.D.  London,  1716-18.  Fol.  2  vols. — Hearne  wrote  of  him  that  Dean 
Aldrich  "  used  to  speak  slightingly  of  him,  as  an  unaccurate  muddy -headed 
man  "  (Hearne's  Remains,  iii.,  157).     See  ante,  p.  223. 

(x)  J.  J.  Scaliger. 

J.  J.  Scaliger  published  his  De  Emendations  Temporum  in  1583,  and  his 
Thesaurus  Temporum  in  1(506. 

(y)  Petavius. 

"  Denis  P6tau,  n6  a  Orleans,  en  1583,  jesuite.  II  a  r6form6  la  chrono- 
logie"  [CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  xvii.,  141).  "II  se  trouve,  selon  le  frere  Petau, 
jesuite,  que  la  famille  de  Noe  avait  produit  un  bi-milliard  deux  cent 
quarante-sept  milliards  deux  cent  vingt-quatre  millions  sept  cent  dix-sept 
habitants  en  trois  cent  ans.  Le  bon  pretre  Petau  ne  savait  pas  ce  que  e'est  que 
de  faire  des  enfans  et  de  les  Clever.     Comme  il  y  va  ! "  (lb.,  xvi.,  400.) 

9.  GIBBON  AT  MAGDALEN  COLLEGE  (p.  49). 

Gibbon,  as  the  College  Books  show,  was  the  only  Gentleman-Commoner 
who  entered  in  1752.  In  1750,  four  entered ;  in  1751,  one,  and  in  1752, 
before  he  left,  two.  In  the  next  two  years  and  a  half  sixteen  entered. 
The  late  Rev.  J.  R.  Bloxam,  D.D.,  formerly  Fellow  of  the  College,  who 
graduated  in  1832,  wrote  to  me  on  Jan.  22,  1889  :  "There  was  no  tradition  in 
my  time  of  the  set  of  rooms  which  Gibbon  occupied.  President  Routh  told 
Milman  that  story  of  Finden,  the  Fellow  which  he  gives  in  a  note  [ante, 
p.  61,  n.\  but  he  also  told  him  that  Gibbon  had  a  great  head,  always  wore 
black,  and  came  late  into  Hall.  He  was  admitted  as  a  member  of  the  College 
on  April  2,  1752,  and  matriculated  in  the  Easter  Vacation.  His  name  dis- 
appears from  the  Buttery  Book  on  July  4,  1753 ;  but  his  name  was  not  taken 


284  APPENDIX 

off  the  College  Books  regularly  till  1755,  when  he  received  back  his  caution 
money  (£40).  Before  that  time  he  had  joined  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  had 
left  it,  of  which  proceeding  the  College  was  probably  entirely  ignorant. 
After  he  had  published  his  Autobiography  [this  is  a  mistake,  as  it  was  pub- 
lished after  his  death],  one  of  the  Magdalen  Fellows  met  him  in  Oxford,  and 
asked  him  to  dine  at  Magdalen,  saying,  '  If  you  come,  we  will  not  burn  you '. 
He  replied  that  he  would  have  done  so,  but  that  he  had  an  engagement  in 
London  at  a  certain  time,  and  must  proceed  on  his  journey  thither.  There  is  a 
book  in  the  Eton  College  Library,  Bishop  Hall's  Satires,  with  his  name  written 
in  it  in  a  boyish  hand,  '  Edward  Gibbon,  Gentleman  Commoner  of  Magdalen 
College,  Oxford,  May  10,  1753 '.  When,  as  Librarian  of  Magdalen  College,  I 
read  his  taunt  that  the  College  had  no  writers,  I  commenced  a  Library  of 
Magdalen  authors,  and,  in  addition  to  many  works  of  authors  like  Addison, 
collected  about  three  hundred  volumes,  for  which  collection  I  have  still  some 
to  be  added.  His  second  tutor,  whose  name  he  suppresses,  was  Dr.  Thomas 
"Winchester,  of  whom  I  have  given  an  account  in  my  Register  of  Demies, 
whom  old  President  Routh  recollected." 

Dr.  Routh  was  elected  President  of  Magdalen  in  1791.  He  died  in  Decem- 
ber, 1854,  aged  ninety -nine.  Gibbon  passed  a  night  in  Oxford  in  Oct.,  1793 
{ante,  p.  251,  n.  1). 

"  One  unparalleled  beauty  belonging  to  this  College  is  the  extensive  out- 
let. The  Grove  seems  perfectly  adapted  to  indulge  contemplation  ;  being  a 
pleasant  kind  of  solitude,  laid  out  in  walks,  and  well  planted  with  elms.  It 
has  likewise  a  bowling-green  in  it,  and  having  some  beautiful  lawns,  feeds 
about  forty  head  of  deer.  Beside  these  walks,  there  is  a  very  delightful  one 
round  a  meadow,  surrounded  by  the  branches  of  the  Cherwell ;  whence  it  is 
called  the  Water-Walk"  {A  Pocket  Companion  for  Oxford,  ed.  1762,  p.  31). 

Addison,  it  seems,  had  not  yet  given  his  name  to  the  long  straight  walk  on 
the  northern  side. 

It  was  as  a  Gentleman-Commoner  that  Gibbon  received  the  key  of  the 
library.  .James  wrote  from  Queen's  College  in  his  fourth  year  :  "  The  honour 
of  the  key  of  the  library  was  in  consequence  of  my  application  to  the  Doctor. 
It  has,  however,  many  inconveniences  ;  whenever  I  want  to  go  in,  I  am  forced 
to  get  the  butler 's  keys,  there  being  two  locks  on  the  door  to  prevent  a  sub- 
scriber's entering  without  leave"  (Letters  of  Radcliffe  and  Ja?nes,  p.  165). 

The  dreariness  of  a  poor  student's  lot  at  Oxford  is  described  in  An  Epistle 
from  Oxon  to  a  Friend,  published  in  the  same  volume  as  Johnson's  Latin 
version  of  Pope's  Messiah  (Husband's  Miscellany  of  Poems,  1731,  p.  121). 
Husband  was  a  Fellow  of  Pembroke  College.     The  poet  writes  :— 

"  But  I,  unhappy  I,  whom  cloistered  walls 
Incage,  far  distant  from  my  native  soil, 
The  sport  of  wanton  fortune,  live  deprived 
Of  every  common  privilege  of  life. 
Nor  converse  me  of  entertaining  friend, 
Nor  merry  tale,  nor  care-beguiling  jest, 
Nor  social  catch,  nor  quavering  laugh  delight. 
My  gloomy,  melancholy,  mournful  days 
Pass  joyless,  doomed  for  ever  to  the  din 
Of  wrangling,  barbarous,  unmeaning  terms, 
The  pedant's  learned  jargon,  and  the  plague 
Of  dull,  illogical,  untutored  youth. 

Thirst  in  my  throat,  and  famine  in  my  bowels, 

I  to  recess  of  naked  room  repair  ; 

A  garret  vile,  dark,  dark  and  dismal  all 

As  night 

No  warmth  of  wood 
My  frozen  limbs  with  crackling  blaze  revives." 


APPENDIX  285 


10.  WARBURTON  AND  LOWTH  (p.  49). 

Warburton,  in  an  Appendix  Concerning  the  Book  of  Job,  published  in  the 
fourth  edition  of  The  Divine  Legation,  vol.  v.,  p.  409,  attacking  Lowth  for 
maintaining  that  "idolatry  was  punished  under  the  oeconomy  of  the 
Patriarchs,  in  the  families  and  under  the  dominion  of  Abraham,  Melchisedec, 
and  Job,"  continues  (p.  414):  "But  the  learned  Professor,  who  has  been 
hardily  brought  up  in  the  keen  atmosphere  of  wholesome  severities,  and 
early  taught  to  distinguish  between  de  facto  and  de  jure,  thought  it  needless 
to  enquire  into  Facts,  when  he  was  secure  of  the  Right.  And  therefore  only 
slightly  and  superciliously  asks,  'What?  was  not  Abraham,  by  his  very 
princely  office  to  punish  Idolatry  ?  Were  not  Melchisedec  and  Job,  and  all  the 
heads  of  Tribes  to  do  the  same  ? '  Why,  no  ;  and  it  is  well  for  Religion  that 
they  were  not.  It  is  for  its  honour  that  such  a  set  of  persecuting  Patriarchs 
is  nowhere  to  be  found  but  in  &  poetical  Prelection." 

"To  understand,"  writes  Pattison,  "the  bitterness  of  this  taunt,  we  must 
recur  to  Lowth's  peculiar  position  before  the  world  in  17bo.     The  University 
of   Oxford  was  committed   by   all   the   traditions   of  seventy   years   to   the 
principles  of  High  Church  and  Jacobitism.     Convicted  of  scarcely  disguised 
disaffection   to    the  reigning   dynasty,    it   had    been    treated  by   successive 
ministries  with  neglect  and  contempt.     Lowth  stood  forward  as  the  foremost 
man  and    representative   of    this   disgraced   and    semi-outlaw  society.      To 
fasten    upon   him   the    stigma   of    being  the   champion   of    disloyalty    and 
persecuting  principles,  the  presumed  atmosphere  in  which  Lowth  had  been 
brought  up,   would  have  been  a  fatal  bar  to  his  prospects  in  the  Church. 
Nothing,  therefore,  could  be  more  malignant  than  Warburton's  hints,  while 
at  the  same  time  nothing  could  be  more  unjust ;  for  though  the  public  and 
the  Government  were  not  yet  aware  of  it,  a  great  change  had  been  working  in 
the  opinions  and  feelings  of  the  University.     The  old  High  Church  and  High 
Tory  party,  of  which  Dr.  King  was  the  representative,  had  been  slowly  losing 
in  numbers  and  influence,  and  a  new  generation  forming  in  a  mould  less  alien 
from  the  general  feeling  and  opinion  of  England.      To  this  party,  which  com- 
prehended the  younger  and  better  minds  in  the  University,  the  doctrines  of 
the   old    Tory,    his    Stuart    attachments,    and   his   passion  for    'wholesome 
severities '  against  Nonconformists,  were  already  distasteful ;  and  it  was  of 
this  party  that  Lowth  was  the  representative.     Stung  at  once  by  the  unfair- 
ness of   the  taunt,  and  by  its  damning  nature,  Lowth  threw  all  his  force  into 
his  reply  to  it.     He  distinctly  and  emphatically  repudiates,  as  he  could  with 
truth,  the  insinuation  of  intolerance  and  persecuting  tenets.     '  I  have  never 
omitted  any  opportunity  that  fairly  offered  itself  of  bearing  my  testimony 
against  those  very  principles,  and  of  expressing  my  abhorrence  of  them  both 
in  public  and  in  private.'     And  then  he  turns  upon  the  bishop:   'Pray,  my 
lord,  what  is  it  to  the  purpose  where  I  have  been  brought  up  ?   .    .    .  Had  I 
not  your  lordship's   example   to  justify   me,   I   should  think  it  a  piece  of 
extreme  impertinence  to  inquire  where  you  were  bred.     It  is  commonly  said 
your  lordship's  education  was  of  that  particular  kind  concerning  which  it  is 
a  remark  of  that  great  judge  of  men  and  manners,  Lord  Clarendon,  that  it 
particularly  disposes  them  to  be  proud,  insolent,  and  pragmatical.     ' '  Colonel 
Harrison  was  the  son  of  a  butcher,  and  had  been  bred  up  in  the  place  of  a 
clerk,  under  a  lawyer  of  good  account  in  those  parts  ;  which  kind  of  educa- 
tion introduces  men  into  the  language  and  practice  of  business  ;  and  if  it  be 
not  resisted  by  the  great  ingenuity  of  the  person,  inclines  young  men  to  more 
pride  than  any  other  kind  of  breeding,  and  disposes  them  to  be  pragmatical 
and  insolent."    [History  of  the  Rebellion,  ed.  1826,  vi.,  219.]    Now,  my  lord, 
as  you  have  in  your  whole  behaviour,  and  in  all  your  writings,  remarkably 
distinguished    yourself    by    your   humility,    lenity,    meekness,    forbearance, 
candour,   humanity,  civility,   decency,  good  manners,  good  temper,   modera- 
tion with  regard  to  the  opinions  of  others,  and  a  modest  diffidence  of  your 


286  APPENDIX 

own,  this  unpromising  circumstance  of  your  education  is  so  far  from  being  a 
disgrace  to  you,  that  it  highly  redounds  to  your  praise.  For  myself,  on  the 
contrary,  it  is  well  if  I  can  acquit  myself  of  the  burden  of  being  responsible 
for  the  great  advantages  which  1  enjoyed.  For,  my  lord,  I  was  educated  in 
the  University  of  Oxford,'  &c.  [Letter  to  Bishop  War  burton,  &c,  ed.  1766, 
p.  64]"  (Pattison's  Works,  ed.  1889,  ii.,  140). 


11.  HOOKER,  CHILLINGWORTH,  AND  LOCKE  (p.  50). 

"  I  have  often  heard  Mr.  Locke  say,  in  reference  to  his  first  years  spent  in 
the  University,"  said  his  friend  Lady  Masham,  "that  he  had  so  small  satis- 
faction there  from  his  studies,  as  finding  very  little  light  brought  thereby  to 
his  understanding,  that  he  became  discontented  with  his  manner  of  life,  and 
wished  his  father  had  rather  designed  him  for  anything  else  than  what  he 
was  destined  to,  apprehending  that  his  no  greater  progress  in  knowledge 
proceeded  from  his  not  being  fitted  or  capacitated  to  be  a  scholar"  (Fox 
Bourne's  Life  of  Locke,  ed.  1876,  i.,  47). 

"The  scholastic  teaching  of  Oxford  had  a  large  share  in  forming,  by 
reaction,  many  of  his  most  characteristic  opinions.  .  .  .  "We  can  hardly  doubt 
that,  if  Locke  had  been  brought  up  in  a  university  where  logic  and  philosophy 
did  not  form  part  of  the  course,  his  greatest  work  would  never  have  been 
written  "  (T.  Fowler's  Locke,  ed.  1880,  p.  6). 

At  Christ  Church  he  long  enjoyed  a  studentship,  corresponding  to  a 
fellowship  at  other  colleges.  In  1684  he  was  illegally  deprived  of  it  by  the 
servile  Dean,  Bishop  Fell,  and  the  Chapter  (King's  Life  of  Locke,  ed.  1858, 
pp.  147,  149,  175).     King  William  neglected  to  restore  him. 

By  joining  Hooker  and  Chillingworth  with  Locke,  Gibbon  seems  to  imply 
that  they  also  were  ill-used  by  the  University.  Hooker's  obligations  to 
Oxford  are  acknowledged  by  his  biographer,  who,  speaking  of  his  election  to 
a  scholarship  at  ■  Corpus,  says:  "And  now  as  he  was  much  encouraged,  so 
now  he  was  perfectly  incorporated  into  this  beloved  college,  which  was  then 
noted  for  an  eminent  librae,  strict  students,  and  remarkable  scholars  ".  His 
Fellowship,  which  he  gained  four  years  later,  he  lost  by  his  unhappy 
marriage.  ' '  By  this  marriage  the  good  man  was  drawn  from  the  tranquillity 
of  his  college  ;  from  that  garden  of  piety,  of  pleasure,  of  peace,  and  a  sweet 
conversation,  into  the  thorny  wilderness  of  a  busy  world '  (Walton's  Lives, 
ed.  1838,  pp.  175,  185). 

Chillingworth  was  first  Scholar  and  next  Fellow  of  Trinity  College. 
Oxford  does  not  seem  to  have  been  wanting  to  him. 


12.  FOREIGN  UNIVERSITIES  (p.  53). 

Adam  Smith  attacked  the  Universities  of  Europe.  In  France,  he  says, 
the}r  suffered  from  "an  arbitrary  and  extraneous  jurisdiction".  A  pro- 
fessor could  gain  protection  from  it,  "not  by  ability  or  diligence  in  his 
profession,  but  by  obsequiousness  to  the  will  of  his  superiors".  "It  is 
observed  by  Mr.  de  Voltaire,  that  Father  Porree,  a  Jesuit  of  no  great 
eminence  in  the  republic  of  letters,  was  the  only  professor  they  ever  had  in 
France  whose  works  were  worth  the  reading.  ['Poree  {Charles)  .  .  .  du 
petit  nombre  de  professeurs  qui  ont  eu  de  la  celebrite  chez  les  gens  du 
monde'  (CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  xvii.,  142).]  .  .  .  The  observation  of  Mr.  de 
Voltaire  may  be  applied,  I  believe,  not  only  to  France,  but  to  all  other 
Roman  Catholic  countries.  We  very  rarely  find  in  any  of  them  an  eminent 
man  of  letters  who  is  a  professor  in  an  university,  except,  perhaps,  in  the 
professions  of  law  and  physic." 


APPENDIX  287 

Smith  says  of  "the  philosophical  education"  generally  given:  "The 
alterations  which  the  universities  of  Europe  thus  introduced  into  the  ancient 
course  of  philosophy  were  all  meant  for  the  education  of  ecclesiastics.  .  .  . 
But  the  additional  quantity  of  subtlety  and  sophistry,  the  casuistry  and  the 
ascetic  morale  which  those  alterations  introduced  into  it,  certainly  did  not 
render  it  more  for  the  education  of  gentlemen,  or  men  of  the  world,  or  more 
likely  either  to  improve  the  understanding  or  to  mend  the  heart.  This 
course  of  philosophy  is  what  still  continues  to  be  taught  in  the  greater  part  of 
the  universities  of  Europe"  [Wealth  of  Nations,  ed.  1811,  iii.,  109,  182,  239). 

Gibbon,  in  The  Decline,  vi.,  189,  describing  how  at  Salerno  "a  school, 
the  first  that  arose  in  the  darkness  of  Europe,  was  consecrated  to  the  healing 
art,"  continues  :  "The  school  of  medicine  has  long  slept  in  the  name  of  an 
university  ". 

Five  years  after  Gibbon  left  Oxford,  Blackstone  said  in  his  opening  lecture 
on  the  study  of  the  law:  "A  fashion  has  prevailed,  especially  of  late,  to 
transport  the  growing  hopes  of  this  island  to  foreign  universities,  in  Switzer- 
land, Germany  and  Holland  ;  which,  though  infiniteljT  inferior  to  our  own  in 
every  other  consideration,  have  been  looked  upon  as  better  nurseries  of  the 
civil,  or  (which  is  nearly  the  same)  of  their  own  municipal  law  "  (Blackstone 's 
Cotnmentaries,  ed.  1775,  i.,  5). 


13.  COLLEGE  COMMON  ROOMS  AND  MAGDALEN  FELLOWS  (p.  57). 

Robert  Lloyd,  the  schoolfellow  of  Churchill,  Cowper,  and  Warren 
Hastings,  and  also  of  Gibbon,  though  his  senior  by  four  years,  thus  ridicules 
the  Fellows  of  Oxford  in  The  North  Briton  for  30th  October,  1762  :— 

' '  Fellows  !  who've  soak'd  away  their  knowledge 
In  sleepy  residence  at  College  ; 
Whose  lives  are  like  a  stagnant  pool, 
Muddy  and  placid,  dull  and  cool ; 
Mere  drinking,  eating  ;  eating,  drinking  ; 
With  no  impertinence  of  thinking." 

Thomas  Warton,  Fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Oxford,  in  The  Progress  of 
Discontent  (1746)  describes  the  feelings  of  a  man  who  had  resigned  his  fellow- 
ship for  a  College  living  : — 

"  Why  did  I  sell  my  College  life 
(He  cries)  for  benefice  and  wife  ? 
Return,  ye  days,  when  endless  pleasure 
I  found  in  reading  or  in  leisure  ; 
When  calm  around  the  Common  Room 
I  puff'd  my  daily  pipe's  perfume  ; 
Rode  for  a  stomach,  and  inspected, 
At  annual  bottlings,  corks  selected  ; 
And  din'd  untax'd,  untroubl'd,  under 
The  portrait  of  our  pious  Founder. " 

(Warton's  Poetical  Works,  ed.  1802,  ii.,  197.) 

In  many  of  the  Colleges  the  Common  Room  was  open  to  the  commoners 
as  well  as  to  the  gentlemen-commoners.  In  1776  Dr.  Adams,  Master  of 
Pembroke  College,  writes  Boswell,  "told  us  that  in  some  of  the  Colleges,  the 
fellows  had  excluded  the  students  from  social  intercourse  with  them  in  the 
common  room.  Johnson.  '  They  are  in  the  right,  Sir  :  there  can  be  no  real 
conversation,  no  fair  exertion  of  mind  amongst  them,  if  the  young  men  are 
by  ;  for  a  man  who  has  a  character  does  not  choose  to  stake  it  in  their 
presence'  "  (Boswell's  Johnson,  ii.,  443). 


288  APPENDIX 

Among  "  the  monks  of  Magdalen  "  was  George  Home,  afterwards  Bishop 
of  Norwich.  He  was  a  man  of  exemplary  character,  who  at  this  time  was 
engaged  on  his  Commentary  on  the  Psalms.  That  only  fifteen  years  later  he 
was  elected  President  seems  to  show  that  the  majority  of  the  junior  Fellows 
of  Gibbon's  time  were  not  so  degraded  as  he  paints  them.  G.  V.  Cox, 
writing  of  Oxford  in  1794,  says  that  "Dr.  Home's  name  was  familiar  to  me 
in  such  phrases  as,  'True  as  George  Home,'  'Sweet-tempered  as  George 
Home'"  {Recollections  of  Oxford,  ed.  1868,  p.  153).  "Parr  said  of  him,  'he 
understood  Greek  and  he  loved  Hebrew,'  meaning,  as  is  interpreted,  that  he 
did  not  understand  Hebrew  "  (H.  D.  Best's  Memorials,  p.  62). 

Dr.  Waldgrave,  Gibbon's  first  tutor,  sent  to  the  College  from  his  country 
living  two  manuscript  volumes  of  annotations  on  Plato,  with  the  inscription  : 
"Dr.  Waldgrave  to  Dr.  Home  and  the  College.  All  Health.  January  1, 
1776.  The  oblivia  vitcs  after  the  death  of  a  Friend,  And  that  Friend,  A 
Wife."  At  the  end  he  recorded:  "The  Dialogues  are  the  most  illiterate, 
most  inelegant  and  most  insipid  repast  the  mind  of  man  can  sit  down  to.  To 
the  Epistles  I  allow  some  merit  in  point  of  diction."  In  his  epitaph  in 
Washington  Church,  perhaps  composed  by  himself,  it  is  said  that  "he  came 
mourning  into  the  world  three  months  after  the  death  of  his  Father,  took 
gently  there  what  gently  came,  and  left  it  April  26,  1784,  thanking  God  for 
the  past  and  hoping  humbly  through  the  great  Redemption  for  his  future 
mercies  ". 

Another  of  the  monks  was  Thomas  West,  D.D.,  who  was  once  bursar  of 
the  College.  ' '  It  was  suggested  to  him  that  he  ought  to  get  some  cattle  to 
eat  down  the  grass  of  the  meadow.  He  sent  for  a  farmer  who,  agreeing  to 
put  in  some  stock,  asked  what  he  was  to  pay  per  head  per  week.  '  Pay  ? ' 
said  the  bursar.  '  Do  you  think  Magdalen  College  is  to  be  under  an  obliga- 
tion to  such  an  one  as  you  ? '  "  [lb.,  p.  295.)  See  id.  for  his  one  vain  attempt 
to  visit  London. 

H.  D.  Best,  himself  a  Fellow  of  Magdalen,  wrote  of  another  Fellow  : 
"  Here  he  lived  for  five  and  thirty  years  ;  '  he  had  nothing  to  do  and  he  did 
it,'  to  quote  a  witticism  of  George  Home"  (id.,  p.  136).  See  also  Letters  of 
Radcliffe  and  James,  pp.  85,  191. 

The  Rev.  H.  A.  "Wilson,  in  his  Magdalen  College,  pp.  222,  244,  249,  says 
that  the  greater  part  of  the  dernies  were  graduates  biding  their  time  for  a 
fellowship  to  fall  vacant,  to  which  they  would  succeed  as  a  matter  of  course. 
"  Their  studies  were  without  the  stimulus  of  rivalry  or  the  interest  of  com- 
panionship." The  position  of  gentleman-commoner  lasted  for  a  hundred 
years  after  Gibbon  left  the  College.  There  was  a  reforming  party  among  the 
Fellows  who  wished  to  abolish  them,  but  they  could  not  overcome  the  opposi- 
tion of  the  aged  President,  Dr.  Routh.  "Their  virtual  abolition  took  place 
in  1854." 


14.  DECLAMATIONS  IN  HALL  (p.  59). 

By  the  statutes  of  Pembroke  College  "all  non-graduate  scholars  and 
commoners  are  to  declaim  publicly  in  hall  on  Saturdays  after  common 
prayers".  Under  the  Commonwealth  "this  rule  was  abrogated  from  April 
18,  1651,  in  order  that  all  might  prepare  themselves  for  the  Lord's  Day" 
(Macleane's  Pembroke  College,  pp.  189,  231).  It  was  restored  later  on,  for 
Johnson  declaimed  (Boswell's  Johnson,  i.,  71,  n.  2).  James  wrote  from 
Queen's  College  in  1778:  "Sanderson  [the  author  of  Logicae  Artis  Com- 
pendium] is  the  great  oracle  next  to  Aristotle,  to  whose  bust  the  wranglers  in 
the  hall  seem  to  pav  a  more  profound  reverence  than  to  common  sense ' 
(Letters  of  Radcliffe  and  James,  p.  50).  The  Provost  of  the  College  says  in  a 
note  on  this  passage  that  "  it  probably  refers  to  the  disputations  performed 
as  exercises  by  the  students  ".     In  Magdalen  College  the  declamations  were 


APPENDIX  289 

restored  by  Routh,  who  became  President  in  1791.  James  Hurdis,  a  demy 
of  1782,  describing  the  College  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  says  : 
"  All  young  men  of  three  years'  standing,  whether  gentlemen-commoners  or 
dependent  members,  are  still  called  upon  in  their  turns  to  declaim  before  the 
whole  College,  immediately  after  dinner,  while  the  society  and  their  visitants 
are  yet  sitting  at  their  respective  tables.  Neither  is  the  gentleman-commoner 
exempted  from  any  other  exercise  which  the  College  requires  of  its  dependent 
members  "  (A  Word  or  Two  in  Vindication  of  the  University  of  Oxford  and 
of  Magdalen  College  in  particular  from  the  Posthumous  Aspersiotis  of  Mr. 
Gibbon,  p.  13). 

Francis  Newbery,  who  entered  Trinity  College  in  1762,  describes  how  the 
under-graduates  in  turn,  one  every  day,  "recited  thirty  or  forty  lines  from 
one  of  the  classics  during  the  clatter  of  knives  and  forks  and  plates  in  the 
middle  of  dinner,  the  speaker  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  hall  "  {A  Bookseller 
of  the  Last  Century,  by  C.  "Welsh,  ed.  1885,  p.  128). 


15.  DISCIPLINE  AT  OXFORD  (p.  66). 

William  Scott  (afterwards  the  great  Admiralty  Judge,  Lord  Stowell) 
entered  Oxford  in  1761  at  the  age  of  fifteen.  Five  years  later  he  wrote  to  his 
father  about  a  younger  brother:  "Send  Jack  up  to  me,  I  can  do  better  for 
him  here ".  Jack  was  the  future  Lord  Chancellor,  the  Earl  of  Eldon 
(Twiss's  Life  of  Eldon,  ed.  1846,  i.,  38).  William  Scott  would  never  have  had 
him  sent  up  to  a  life  of  idleness. 

R.  L.  Edgeworth,  in  1761,  entered  Corpus  Christi  College  as  a  gentleman- 
commoner.  "  I  applied  assiduously, "  he  wrote,  "not  only  to  my  studies 
under  my  excellent  tutor,  but  also  to  the  perusal  of  the  best  English  writers. 
...  I  remember  with  satisfaction  the  pleasure  I  then  felt  from  the  conscious- 
ness of  intellectual  improvement."  He  speaks  highly  of  his  fellow-students 
(Memoirs  of  R.  L.  Edgeworth,  ed.  1844,  p.  55). 

The  first  Earl  of  Malmesbury,  who  entered  Merton  College  in  1763,  and 
resided  two  years,  gives  the  same  account  as  Gibbon  :  ' '  The  discipline  of  the 
University  was  so  lax  that  a  gentleman-commoner  was  under  no  restraint, 
and  never  called  upon  to  attend  either  lectures,  or  chapel,  or  hall.  My  tutor, 
an  excellent  and  worthy  man,  according  to  the  practice  of  all  tutors  at  that 
moment,  gave  himself  no  concern  about  his  pupils.  I  never  saw  him  but 
during  a  fortnight ;  when  I  took  it  into  my  head  to  be  taught  trigonometry  " 
(Diaries  of  the  First  Earl  of  Malmesbury,  Preface,  p.  11). 

Bentham,  who  was  at  Queen's  College  at  the  same  time,  said  :  "I  learnt 
nothing.  I  took  to  reading  Greek  of  my  own  fancy  ;  but  there  was  no 
encouragement.  We  just  went  to  the  foolish  lectures  of  our  Tutors  to  be 
taught  something  of  logical  jargon  "  (Bentham's  Works,  x.,  41). 

Charles  James  Fox,  who  entered  Hertford  College  at  Michaelmas,  1764, 
at  the  age  of  fifteen,  wrote:  "I  like  Oxford  well  enough  ;  I  read  there  a 
great  deal,  and  am  very  fond  of  mathematics.  ...  I  really  think  to  a  man 
who  reads  a  great  deal  there'  cannot  be  a  more  agreeable  place. "  His  father 
spoke  of  his  son  "studying  very  hard  at  Oxford"  (Earl  Russell's  Life  of  Fox, 
ed.  1859,  i.,  6). 

Sir  William  Jones,  entering  University  College  in  1764,  was  at  first  as 
much  disappointed  as  Gibbon  ;  but  "this  disgust  soon  subsided.  He  found 
in  the  University  all  the  means  and  opportunity  of  study  which  he  could 
wish.  He  perused  all  the  Greek  poets  and  historians  of  note,  and  the  entire 
works  of  Plato  and  Lucian.  He  studied  Persian,  Hebrew,  and  German.  He 
read  the  best  authors  in  Italian,  Spanish,  and  Portuguese.  In  his  twenty- 
first  year  he  began  his  De  Poesi  Asiatica.  Seven  years  after  he  entered 
Oxford  he  sent  a  friend  '  a  little  Philippic  which  I  wrote  against  an  obscure 
coxcomb  who  had  the  audacity  to  abuse  our  University  '.     When  he  took  his 

19 


290  APPENDIX 

Master's  Degree  he  composed  an  oration  'to  display,'  among  other  topics, 
'  the  transcendant  advantages  of  the  University  of  Oxford '.  He  said  that 
'  with  the  fortune  of  a  peasant  he  gave  himself  the  education  of  a  prince '. 
He  had  been  supported  at  Oxford,  first  by  a  scholarship  and  next  by  a  fellow- 
ship" (Teignmouth's  Life  of  Sir  W.  Jones,  pp.  39-42,  44,  47,  126,  139). 

John  James  entered  Queen's  College  in  1778.  His  father,  who  had  been  at 
the  College  thirty  years  earlier,  on  hearing  from  his  son  of  "the  modes  of 
education  there,  wrote  to  a  friend:  "From  the  genius  of  the  place,  .  .  . 
the  opportunities  of  libraries,  &c,  much  may  be  expected  from  a  lad  of  spirit 
— but  from  tutors,  I  verily  believe,  nothing".  Two  years  later  he  wrote: 
"Do,  my  dear  Sir,  expose  to  the  public  the  vile  impositions  practised  upon 
them  by  these  people  under  the  liberal  pretence  of  educating  youth  "  {Letters 
of  Radcliffe  and  James,  pp.  53,  133). 

Southey,  who  entered  Balliol  College  in  1792,  wrote  of  his  College  in  1819  : 
"It  has  fairly  obtained  a  new  character,  and  is  no  longer  the  seat  of  drunken- 
ness, raffery,  and  indiscipline,  as  it  was  in  our  days"  (Southey's  Life  and 
Cor  res.,  iv.,  342). 

Sir  James  Stephen,  who  left  Cambridge  in  1812,  wrote  in  1851 :  "  If  I  had 
the  pen  of  Edward  Gibbon,  I  could  draw  from  my  own  experience  a  picture 
which  would  form  no  unmeet  companion  for  that  which  he  has  bequeathed  to 
us  of  his  education  at  Oxford.  The  three  or  four  years  during  which  I  lived 
on  the  banks  of  the  Cam  were  passed  in  a  very  pleasant,  though  not  a  very 
cheap,  hotel.  But  if  they  had  been  passed  at  the  Clarendon  in  Bond  Street, 
I  do  not  think  that  the  exchange  would  have  deprived  me  of  any  aids  for 
intellectual  discipline,  or  for  acquiring  literary  or  scientific  knowledge" 
(Lectures  on  the  History  of  France,  ed.  1851,  i. ,  Preface,  p.  7). 


16.  SUBSCRIPTION  TO  THE  THIRTY-NINE  ARTICLES  (p.  67). 

"The  forms  of  orthodoxy,  the  articles  of  faith,  are  subscribed  with  a  sigh 
or  a  smile  by  the  modern  clergy  "  (The  Decline,  vi.,  128). 

Jeremy  Bentham,  when  called  upon  to  subscribe  to  the  Articles,  was  per- 
plexed by  doubts.  "Communicating  my  distress  to  some  of  my  fellow- 
collegiates  I  found  them  sharers  in  it.  Upon  inquiry  it  was  found  that 
among  the  Fellows  of  the  College  there  was  one  to  whose  office  it  belonged, 
among  other  things,  to  remove  all  scruples.  "We  repaired  to  him  with  fear 
and  trembling.  His  answer  was  cold  ;  and  the  substance  of  it  was — that  it 
was  not  for  uninformed  youths,  such  as  we,  to  presume  to  set  up  our 
private  judgments  against  a  public  one,  formed  by  some  of  the  holiest, 
as  well  as  best  and  wisest  men,  that  ever  lived.  I  signed  ;  but  by  the  view 
I  found  myself  forced  to  take  of  the  whole  business  such  an  impression  was 
made  as  will  never  depart  from  me  but  with  life"  (Bentham's  Works,  x.,  37). 

On  Feb.  6,  1772,  a  petition  was  presented  to  Parliament  for  the  relief  of 
clergymen  and  students  at  the  Universities  from  subscription  to  the  Thirty- 
Nine  Articles.  By  a  majority  of  217  to  71  leave  to  bring  up  the  petition  was 
refused.  Fox,  "who",  to  quote  Gibbon,  "had  prepared  himself  for  that 
holy  war  by  passing  twenty-two  hours  in  the  pious  exercise  of  hazard,"  losing 
£11,000,  supported  the  majority,  and  so  did  Burke  (Misc.  Works,  ii.,  74  ; 
Pari.  Hist.,  xvii.,  245-296  ;  Boswell's  Johnson,  ii.,  150). 

Lord  Westbury,  in  a  debate  in  the  House  of  Lords,  in  1863,  on  the  pro- 
posal to  abolish  subscriptions  to  formularies  of  faith  as  a  qualification  for 
degrees  at  Oxford,  said  :  "My  attention  was  singularly  fixed  upon  this  matter 
many  years  ago,  when  I  matriculated  at  the  University  at  the  early  age  of 
fourteen.  I  was  told  by  the  Vice-Chancellor,  '  You  are  too  young  to  take  the 
common  oath  of  obedience  to  the  Statutes  of  the  University,  but  are  quite  old 
enough  to  subscribe  the  Articles  of  Religion'"  (Life  of  Lord  Westbury,  bv  T. 
A.  Nash,  ed.  1888,  i.,  14). 


APPENDIX  291 

It  was  not  till  Michaelmas  term,  1854,  that  by  Act  of  Parliament  subscrip- 
tion was  no  longer  required  for  matriculation  and  the  Bachelor's  degree.  In 
1871,  by  a  second  Act,  the  higher  degrees  were  also  made  free.  My  old 
friend  and  fellow-student,  the  late  Professor  John  Nichol,  of  Glasgow 
University,  who  would  not  subscribe  the  Articles,  was  thereby  debarred  from 
all  chance  of  a  fellowship,  which  should  have  been  the  reward  of  his  high 
attainments  (See  Memoirs  of  John  Nichol,  p.  141).  I,  too,  was  debarred  for 
many  years  from  advancing  beyond  the  Bachelor's  degree. 

Dr.  Edward  Bentham,  Regius  Professor  of  Divinity,  replying  to  Burke's 
"illiberal  aspersions  of  the  University  of  Oxford"  in  his  speech  on  Nov.  2, 
1773  {Pari.  Hist.,  xviii.,  854),  had  the  impudence  to  write  :  "Here  Philosophy 
and  Theology  reciprocally  join  their  assisting  powers  together,  to  point  out  to 
our  ingenuous  youth  the  characteristics  that  constitute  the  difference  between 
justice  and  dishonest}',  truth  and  falsehood,  liberty  and  licentiousness.  .  .  . 
Here  we  peruse  with  sedulous  attention  the  ancient  pages  of  the  Grecian  and 
Roman  sages.  .  .  .  But  lest  our  attention  should  be  so  engrossed  by  a  constant 
application  to  ancient  History  as  to  neglect  those  transactions  that  are  nearer 
to  our  times,  King  George  I.  has  encouraged  the  study  of  modern  History 
with  a  munificence  which  does  honour  to  Royalty.  No  wonder  then  that  our 
excellent  mode  of  education  should  be  viewed  with  admiration  by  foreigners, 
and  extort  the  eulogiums  even  of  the  most  prejudiced  "  ( The  Honour  of  the 
University  of  Oxford  Defended,  &c,  London,  n.d.,  p.  5). 


17.  LAWS  AGAINST  POPERY  (p.  73). 

Blackstone,  after  giving  a  summary  of  the  laws  against  Popery,  continues  : 
"Of  which  the  President  Montesquieu  observes  that  they  are  so  rigorous, 
though  not  professedly  of  the  sanguinary  kind,  that  they  do  all  the  hurt  that 
can  possibly  be  done  in  cold  blood.  But  in  answer  to  this  it  may  be  observed 
(what  foreigners,  who  only  judge  from  our  statute-book,  are  not  fully 
apprised  of)  that  these  laws  are  seldom  exerted  to  their  utmost  extent ;  and, 
indeed,  if  they  were,  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  excuse  them.  .  .  .  But  if  a 
time  should  ever  arrive,  and  perhaps  it  is  not  very  distant,  when  all  fears  of  a 
Pretender  shall  have  vanished,  and  the  power  and  influence  of  the  Pope  shall 
become  feeble,  ridiculous,  and  despicable,  not  only  in  England,  but  in  every 
kingdom  of  Europe,  it  probably  would  not  then  be  remiss  to  review  and  soften 
these  rigorous  edicts  ;  at  least  till  the  civil  principles  of  the  Roman  Catholics 
called  again  upon  the  legislature  to  renew  them  :  for  it  ought  not  to  be  left  in 
the  breast  of  every  merciless  bigot  to  drag  down  the  vengeance  of  these 
occasional  laws  upon  inoffensive,  though  mistaken,  subjects  ;  in  opposition  to 
the  lenient  inclinations  of  the  civil  magistrate,  and  to  the  destruction  of  every 
principle  of  toleration  and  religious  liberty  "  (Comment.,  p.  57). 

Gibbon,  in  The  Decline,  &c,  vi.,  128,  n.,  after  referring  to  Blackstone,  con- 
tinues :  "The  exceptions  of  Papists,  and  of  those  who  deny  the  Trinity, 
would  still  leave  a  tolerable  scope  for  persecution,  if  the  national  spirit  were 
not  more  effectual  than  a  hundred  statutes  ". 

"April  26,  1748.  Ireland. — One  George  Williams  was  convicted  at  Wex- 
ford Assizes  for  being  perverted  from  the  Protestant  to  the  Popish  religion, 
and  sentenced  to  be  out  of  the  King's  protection,  his  lands  and  tenements, 
goods  and  chattels,  to  be  forfeited  to  the  King,  and  his  body  to  remain  at  the 
King's  pleasure"  (Gent.  Mag.,  1748,  p.  186). 

"  Oct.  20,  1755. — At  the  Westminster  Quarter  Sessions  a  bill  of  indictment 
was  found  against  two  Popish  priests,  who  have  been  lately  very  busy  in 
making  converts"  (ib.,  1755,  p.  473). 

"Aug.  20,  1767. — At  the  Assizes  at  Croydon,  John  Baptist  Malony  was 
tried  for  unlawfully  exercising  the  function  of  a  Popish  priest,  and  admin- 
istering the  Sacrament  of   the   Lord's   Supper  to  divers  persons,   after  the 


292  APPENDIX 

manner  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  when  he  was  found  guilty,  and  received 
sentence  of  perpetual  imprisonment"  {Gent.  Mag.,  1767,  p.  428).  He  was  set 
free  by  the  Government  in  defiance  of  the  law  (Pari.  Hist.,  xix. ,  1139,  1145). 
See  also  Boswell's  Johnson,  iii.,  427,  n.,  and  Johnson's  Letters,  i.,  401,  n. 

It  was  stated  in  the  House  of  Commons  in  1791  that  "  in  Burn's  Ecclesi- 
astical Law,  a  book  in  almost  every  gentleman's  hands,  no  less  than  seventy 
pages  were  occupied  with  an  enumeration  of  the  penal  statutes  still  in  force 
against  Roman  Catholics"  (Pari.  Hist.,  xxviii.,  1262). 


18.  LECTURES  OF  SIR  WILLIAM  SCOTT  AND  SIR  WILLIAM 
BLACKSTONE  (p.  80). 

(a)  Sir  William  Scott. 

William  Scott  was  Camden  Professor  of  Ancient  History  from  1774  to 
1785.  He  was  knighted  in  1788  on  being  made  King's  Advocate-General. 
He  was  made  Judge  of  the  High  Court  of  Admiralty  in  1798,  and  was  raised 
to  the  peerage  by  the  title  of  Baron  Stowell  in  1821. 

John  James  wrote  from  Queen's  College  in  1779  that  Scott's  lectures  "are 
perhaps  superior  to  anything  of  the  kind  in  point  of  elegance  and  erudition. 
The  price  of  attendance  was  three  guineas.  Scott  is  intimate  with  Dr. 
Johnston  [Johnson].  He  has  a  good  deal  of  the  Doctor's  manner.  Some- 
times he  copies  his  faults.  .  .  .  Describing  the  houses  of  the  Athenians  he 
acquainted  his  audience  '  that  they  had  no  convenience  by  which  the  volatile 
parts  of  fire  could  be  conveyed  into  the  open  air '.  How  would  a  bricklayer 
stare  at  being  told  that  he  meant  no  more  than  that  the  Athenians  had 
no  chimneys  !  One  great  inconvenience  attended  this  constant  and  studied 
elevation  ;  for  whenever  he  popped  out  a  familiar  word,  for  which  it  was 
impossible  to  substitute  a  synonyme,  it  came  from  him  with  as  ill  a  grace  as 
an  oath  would  from  a  Bishop  "  (Letters  of  Radcliffe  and  James,  p.  92).  The 
lectures  were  never  published.  Dean  Milman  saw  them  in  manuscript  ( The 
Decline,  ed.  Milman,  1854,  i.,  40).  Francis  Newbery  (ante,  p.  289)  "attended 
the  annual  lectures  by  Dr.  Smitb  in  anatomy  and  chemistry  "  (A  Bookseller 
of  the  Last  Century,  p.  128). 

James  Harris  (first  Earl  of  Malmesbury),  who  was  at  Merton  College  in 
1764,  attended  "anatomical  lectures,  as  well  as  those  of  Dr.  Blackstone". 
The  following  year  his  mother  wrote  to  him  :  ' '  You  are  desired  not  to  attend 
the  anatomical  lectures  this  year,  as  your  father  has  no  idea  of  bringing  you 
up  as  a  surgeon  "  (Letters  of  tlie  First  Earl  of  Malmesbury,  ed.  1870,  1,  103, 
122). 

(b)  Sir  William  Blackstone. 

Charles  Viner,  who  died  in  1756,  left  £12,000  to  found  a  Professorship  of 
Common  Law,  and  such  fellowships  and  scholarships  as  the  fund  might 
support.  Blackstone,  the  first  professor,  delivered  his  first  lecture  in  October, 
1758.  The  Commentaries  were  not  wholly  due  to  the  benefaction.  In  the 
Preface  he  says:  "The  original  plan  took  its  rise  in  the  year  1753;  and 
notwithstanding  the  novelty  of  such  an  attempt  in  this  age  and  country,  and 
the  prejudices  usually  conceived  against  any  innovations  in  the  established 
mode  of  education,  he  had  the  satisfaction  to  find,"  etc. 

His  successor  was  Sir  Robert  Chambers,  who  retained  his  office  till  1777, 
three  years  after  he  had  "gone  as  a  Judge,  with  six  thousand  a  year,  to 
Bengal"  (Boswell's  Johnson,  ii.,  264).  He  was  allowed  to  retain  it  "to  see 
whether  the  climate  of  India  would  suit  him  "  (Diet,  of  Nat.  Biog.).  His 
Principalship  of  New  Inn  Hall  he  retained  till  his  death  in  1803.  For  a 
ludicrous  story  told  by  his  Deputy-Professor,  John  Scott,  see  Life  of  Lord 
Eldon,  ed.  184*6,  i.,  67. 


APPENDIX  293 

Among  the  Vinerian  scholars  arc  to  be  found  the  names  of  Sir  J.  T. 
Coleridge  and  Sir  Walter  Phillimore,  Judges  of  the  Court  of  Queen's  Bench  ; 
Lord  Chancellor  Westbury,  Lord  Justice  Chitty,  and  Mr.  James  Bryce.  The 
present  Vinerian  Law  Professor  is  Mr.  A.  V.  Dicey. 


19.  GIBBON'S  RECONVERSION  (p.  90). 

Gibbon  wrote  to  Miss  Porten  in  February,  1755  :  "I  have  at  length  good 
news  to  tell  you  ;  I  am  now  good  Protestant,  and  am  extremely  glad  of  it.  I 
have  in  all  my  letters  taken  notice  of  the  different  movements  of  my  mind. 
Entirely  Catholic  when  I  came  to  Lausanne,  wavering  long  time  between  the 
two  systems,  and  at  last  fixed  for  the  Protestant ;  when  that  conflict  was 
over,  I  had  still  another  difficulty.  Brought  up  with  all  the  ideas  of  the 
Church  of  England,  I  could  scarce  resolve  to  Communion  with  Presbyterians, 
as  all  the  people  of  this  country  are.  I  at  last  got  over  it  in  considering  that 
whatever  difference  there  may  be  between  their  churches  and  ours  in  the 
government  and  discipline,  they  still  regard  us  as  brethren,  and  profess  the 
same  faith  as  us.  Determined,  then,  in  my  design,  I  declared  it  to  the 
ministers  of  the  town  assembled  at  Mr.  Pavilliard's,  who,  having  examined 
me,  approved  of  it,  and  permitted  me  to  receive  the  Communion  with  them, 
which  I  did  Christmas  Day,  from  the  hands  of  Mr.  Pavilliard,  who  appeared 
extremely  glad  of  it.  I  am  so  extremely  myself,  and  do  assure  you  feel  a  joy 
pure,  and  the  more  so  as  I  know  it  to  be  not  only  innocent  but  laudable  " 
(Corres.,  i.,  2).  "This  letter,'-  writes  Lord  Sheffield,  "is  curious,  as  it  shows 
in  how  short  a  time  (not  more  than  a  year  and  a  half)  he  had  adopted  the 
idiom  of  the  French  language,  and  lost  that  of  his  own"  (Misc.   Works,  i.,  85). 

In  Read's  Hist.  Studies,  ii.,  287,  is  given  (unfortunately  not  in  the  original) 
an  extract  from  the  Registre  des  Stances  de  F  Assemble  pastorale  de  FEglise  de 
Lausanne,  relating  Gibbon's  conversion  and  admission  to  the  Communion. 
Pavilliard  testified  that  ' '  to  his  great  intelligence  were  added  purity  of 
sentiment  and  regularity  of  conduct  ". 

20.  GIBBON'S  EARLY  LOVE  (p.  107). 

Mile.  Curchod  thus  described  him  :  "  II  a  de  beaux  cheveux,  la  main  jolie, 
et  l'air  d'une  personne  de  condition.  Sa  physionomie  est  si  spirituelle  et 
singuliere,  que  je  ne  connais  personne  qui  lui  ressemble.  Elle  a  tant  d'expres- 
sion,  qu'on  y  decouvre  presque  toujours  quelque  chose  de  nouveau.  Ses  gestes 
sont  si  a  propos,  qu'ils  ajoutent  beaucoup  a  ce  qu'il  dit.  En  un  mot,  c'est  une 
de  ces  physionomies,  si  extraordinaires,  qu'on  ne  se  lasse  presque  point  de 
l'examiner,  de  le  peindre  et  de  le  contrefaire.  II  connait  les  egards  que  Ton 
doit  aux  femmes.  Sa  politesse  est  aisee  sans  etre  trop  familiere.  II  danse 
mediocrement.  En  un  mot,  je  lui  connais  peu  des  agrements  qui  font  le 
merite  d'un  petit  maitre.  Son  esprit  varie  prodigieusement."  Here  the 
description  breaks  off  {Le  Salon  de  Madame  Necker,  i.,  35). 

On  the  famous  passage  in  the  text  where  Gibbon  says  ' '  I  sighed  as  a  lover, 
I  obeyed  as  a  son,"  he  has  the  following  note  :  "See  CEuvres  de  Rousseau, 
torn,  xxxiii.,  pp.  88,  89,  octavo  edition.  As  an  author  I  shall  not  appeal  from 
the  judgment,  or  taste,  or  caprice  of  Jean  Jacques :  but  that  extraordinary 
man,  whom  I  admire  and  pity,  should  have  been  less  precipitate  in  condemn- 
ing the  moral  character  and  conduct  of  a  stranger. " 

Sainte-Beuve,  referring  to  this  passage  writes:  "Gibbon  se  degagea 
envers  mademoiselle  Curchod  bien  plus  tard  qu'on  ne  pourrait  le  supposer, 
et  cinq  ans  seulement  apres  avoir  quitt6  la  Suisse.  On  n'a  pas  assez 
remarqu6  que  c'est  de  Gibbon  qu'il  s  agit  dans  une  lettre  de  Jean-Jacques 
Rousseau   £   Moulton,    dat6e   de    Motiers    et    du    4    juin    1763 :    '  Vous    me 


294  APPENDIX 

donnez  pour  mademoiselle  Curchod,  £crit  Jean-Jacques,  une  commission 
dont  je  m'acquitterai  mal,  precis&nent  a  cause  de  mon  estime  pour  elle. 
Le  refroidissement  de  M.  Gibbon  me  fait  mal  penser  de  lui ;  j'ai  revu  son 
livre  (VEssai  sur  titude  de  la  littirature).  II  y  court  apres  l'esprit ;  il  s'y 
guinde.  M.  Gibbon  n'est  point  mon  homme  :  je  ne  puis  croire  qu'il  soit  celui 
de  mademoiselle  Curchod.  Qui  ne  sent  pas  son  prix  n'est  pas  digue  d'elle  ; 
mais  qui  l'a  pu  sentir  et  s'en  d^tache  est  un  homme  a  mepriser.'  Gibbon  a 
l'honnStete'  de  renvoyer  a  cette  lettre  oil  les  noms  6taient  rested  masques 
par  des  initiales  "  (Causeries  du  Lundi,  viii.,  440). 

Gibbon  landed  in  England  on  4th  May,  1758.  It  was  not  till  24th 
Avigust,  1762,  that  he  broke  off  the  engagement.  In  May,  1763,  Moulton,  a 
Swiss  pastor,  a  friend  both  of  Mile.  Curchod  and  Rousseau,  wrote  to  tell  her 
that  Rousseau,  who  was  living  at  Motiers,  had  heard  from  a  lady  at  Paris 
"qu'une  foule  d' Anglais  alloit  partir  de  Paris  pour  Motiers.  Si  M.  Gibbon, 
ajoute-t-elle,  est  du  nombre,  receves  [sic]  le  bien,  car  c'est  un  homme  d'un 
Ires  grand  mirite  et  fort  instruit.  Sur  cela  (pardonn^s  [sic]  le  moy,  chere 
Belle)  je  fis  votre  histoire  a  Rousseau,  et  cette  histoire  Finteressa  fort.  .  .  . 
II  me  promit  que,  si  Gibbon  venoit,  il  ne  manqueroit  pas  de  lui  parler  de 
vous,  et  de  lui  en  parler  d'une  maniere  tres  avantageuse."  Gibbon  did  not  go 
to  Motiers  and  so  did  not  see  Rousseau.  On  his  arrival  at  Lausanne  she  let 
him  know  by  a  letter  from  Geneva  that  he  was  still  dear  to  her.  This  letter 
was  preserved,  but  not  his  answer.  Her  rejoinder,  dated  4th  June,  1763, 
shows  that  it  had  given  her  great  pain.  Nevertheless  she  could  not  have  lost 
all  hope,  for  she  asked  for  his  friendship,  and  offered  to  provide  him  with  an 
introduction  to  Rousseau.  She  begged  him  moreover  to  keep  up  a  corre- 
spondence with  her,  and  to  meet  her.  He  replied :  "Mais  cette correspondance, 
mademoiselle,  j'en  sens  tous  les  agrements,  mais  en  rneme  temps  j'en  sens 
tout  le  danger.  Je  le  concois  par  rapport  a  moi,  je  le  crains  pour  tous  les 
deux.     Permettez  que  le  silence  m'en  dirobe." 

Some  weeks  later  she  met  him  by  chance  at  Ferney,  and  was  treated  by 
him  with  harshness.  On  Sept.  21  she  wrote  to  him  :  "  Intimid£e  et  accablee 
a  Fernex  par  le  jeu  continuel  d'une  gayete'  forced  et  par  la  duret6  de  vos 
r£ponses,  mes  levres  tremblantes  refuserent  absolument  de  me  servir  ;  vous 
m  assurates  en  d'autres  termes  que  vous  rougissiez  pour  moi  du  role  que  je 
soutenois  ;  monsieur,  je  n'ai  jamais  su  confondre  les  droits  de  l'honnetete' 
avec  ceux  de  l'amour-propre  ".  She  goes  on  to  remind  him  that  he  had  asked 
her  to  marry  him  without  waiting  for  his  father's  consent,  and  that  for  love 
of  him  she  had  refused  an  advantageous  offer.  In  spite  of  all  reports  to  the 
contrary  she  had,  she  maintained,  been  faithful  to  him.  She  continued  : 
"  Oui,  je  commence  a  le  croire,  vous  auriez  g6mi  sur  mon  existence  ;  elle  pouvait 
nuire  a  vos  projets  de  fortune  ou  d'ambition"  (Le  Salon  de  Madame  Seeker, 
par  le  Vicomte  d'Haussonville,  1882,  i.,  57-76).  For  some  letters  of  his  to  her 
written  during  his  first  residence  in  Lausanne  see  ib.,  i.,  39-53. 

D'Haussonville,  to  make  the  matter  worse,  says  that  in  1758  "  le  pere  de 
Gibbon  6tait  ties  age1  ".  He  was  only  fifty-one,  so  that  the  son  could  not 
have  counted  on  an  early  independence. 

Gibbon's  suspicions  that  she  had  been  looking  out  for  another  match  are 
somewhat  justified  by  a  letter  she  wrote  to  Moulton  in  1764,  when  it  seemed 
likely,  but  not  certain,  that  Necker  would  offer  to  marry  her.  ' '  Mais,  si 
notre  brillante  chimere  s'evanouit,  j'epouse  Correvon  (c'est  le  nom  de  l'avocat 
d'Yverdon)  l'eie'  prochain.  II  ne  cesse  de  me  persecuter,  et  tous  mes  parens 
avec  lui"  (ib.,  i.,  105).  At  that  time,  at  all  events,  she  had  two  strings  to 
her  bow. 

Over  Gibbon  a  great  change  had  come  in  his  five  years'  absence.  In  his  first 
long  residence  at  Lausanne  under  the  pastor's  roof  his  life,  so  far  as  we  know, 
had  been  innocent.  "  J'avais  une  tres  belle  reputation  ici  pour  les  moeurs,"  he 
wrote  soon  after  his  return  (ante,  p.  158,  n.).  In  those  early  days  he  had  not 
"kept  his  wing'd  affections  dipt  with  crime".     The  coarse  minds  and  brutal 


APPENDIX  295 

habits  of  his  brother-officers  in  the  Militia  must  have  left  their  taint  on  him.  In 
Paris,  whence  he  came  straight  to  Lausanne,  he  had  indulged  in  a  guilty  love. 
How  deep  the  corruption  had  entered  he  showed  in  the  letter  which  he  wrote 
three  years  later  {ante,  p.  153,  n.).  During  his  tour  in  Italy  Mile.  Curchod 
became  Mme.  Necker.  On  his  way  home  he  saw  a  great  deal  of  the  newly - 
married  couple  in  their  house  in  Paris,  though  he  says  nothing  of  this  in  his 
Autobiography.  What  he  thought  of  her  and  what  she  thought  of  him  is 
told  in  the  two  following  letters.  On  Oct.  31,  1765,  he  wrote  to  Holroyd  : 
"The  Curchod  (Necker)  I  saw  at  Paris.  She  was  very  fond  of  me,  and  the 
husband  particularly  civil.  Could  they  insult  me  more  cruelly?  Ask  me 
every  evening  to  supper  ;  go  to  bed,  and  leave  me  alone  with  his  wife — what 
an  impertinent  security  !  It  is  making  an  old  lover  of  mighty  little  conse- 
quence. She  is  as  handsome  as  ever,  and  much  genteeler  ;  seems  pleased 
with  her  fortune  rather  than  proud  of  it.  I  was  (perhaps  indiscreetly  enough) 
exalting  Nanette  de  Illen's  good  luck  and  the  fortune.  '  What  fortune  ? '  said 
she,  with  an  air  of  contempt—'  not  above  20,000  livres  a  year.'  I  smiled,  and 
she  caught  herself  immediately.  '  What  airs  I  give  myself  in  despising 
20,000  livres  a  year,  who  a  year  ago  looked  upon  800  as  the  summit  of  my 
wishes'  "  (Corres.,  L,  81). 

A  week  later  she  wrote  to  Mme.  de  Brenles  :  "  Je  ne  sais,  Madame,  si  je 
vous  ai  dit  que  j'ai  vu  Gibbon  ;  j'ai  6t6  sensible  a  ce  plaisir  au-dela  de  toute 
expression,  non  qu'il  me  reste  aucun  sentiment  pour  un  homme  qui  je  crois 
n'en  merite  guere  ;  mais  ma  vanity  feminine  n'a  jamais  eu  un  triomphe  plus 
complet  et  plus  honnete.  II  a  reste'  deux  semaines  a  Paris  ;  je  l'ai  eu  tous  les 
jours  chez  moi  ;  il  £tait  devenu  doux,  souple,  humble,  decent  jusqu'a  la 
pudeur  ;  temoin  perp£tuel  de  la  tendresse  de  mon  mari,  de  son  esprit,  et  de 
son  enjouement  ;  admirateur  ze!6  de  l'opulence,  il  me  fit  remarquer  pour  la 
premiere  fois  celle  qui  m'entoure,  ou  du  moins  jusqu'alors  elle  n'avait  fait  sur 
moi  qu'une  sensation  desagreable  "  {Lettres  Diverses  Recueillies  en  Suisse,  par 
le  Comte  F6dor  Golowkin,  1821,  p.  265). 

"  The  de  Brenles  mansion  was  in  front  of  the  door  of  La  Grotte,  the  home  of 
Deyverdun  and  Gibbon.  It  was  demolished  in  January,  1896,  some  months 
before  La  Grotte  was  destroyed"  (Read's  Hist.  Studies,  ii.,  312). 


21.  ENGLISH  HISTORIANS  (p.  122). 

(1716.)  "Our  country,  which  has  produced  writers  of  the  first  figure  in 
every  other  kind  of  work,  has  been  very  barren  in  good  historians " 
(Addison,    The  Freeholder,  No.  35). 

(1734.)  Voltaire  [CEtcvres,  xxiv.,  137),  after  speaking  of  English  poets  and 
philosophers,  continues  :  "Pour  de  bons  historiens,  je  ne  leur  en  connais  pas 
encore  ;  il  a  fallu  qu'un  Francais  [Rapin]  ait  £crit  leur  histoire  ". 

(1735.)  "Our  nation  has  furnished  as  ample  and  as  important  matter, 
good  and  bad,  for  history,  as  any  nation  under  the  sun  ;  and  yet  we  must 
yield  the  palm  in  writing  history  most  certainly  to  the  Italians  and  to  the 
French,  and  I  fear  even  to  the  Germans  "  (Bolingbroke,  Works,  ed.  1809, 
hi.,  454). 

(1751.)  "It  is  observed  that  our  nation,  which  has  produced  so  many 
authors  eminent  for  almost  every  other  species  of  literary  excellence,  has 
been  hitherto  remarkably  barren  of  historical  genius '  (Johnson,  The 
Rambler,  No.   122). 

(1754.)  "It  could  not  perhaps  be  too  much  to  affirm  that  Camden's 
History  of  Queen  Elizabeth  is  among  the  best  historical  productions  which 
have  yet  been  composed  by  any  Englishman.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
English  have  not  much  excelled  in  that  kind  of  literature  "  (Hume,  History 
of  England,  ed.  1773,  vi.,  195). 

(1755.)     "Avecunpeu  de  franchise,  et  si  nous  voulons  nous  rendre  une 


296  APPENDIX 

justice  exacte,  il  faut  m$me  convenir  que  le  talent  d'historien  a  disparu  avec 
les  anciens,  et  qu'a  un  Frangais  et  deux  ou  trois  Italiens  pres,  les  modernes 
n'ont  eu  personne  qui  puisse  etre  cite\  Plagons  Guichardin,  Davila,  M.  de 
Thou  a  une  distance  convenable  de  Plutarque,  de  Tite-Live,  et  de  Tacite,  et 
tout  le  reste  des  modernes  a  une  distance  infinie  des  premiers  "  (Baron  de 
Grimm,  Me'moires  Historiques,  &c,  ed.  1814,  i.,  168). 

(1761.)  "Our  writers  had  commonly  so  ill  succeeded  in  history;  the 
Italians,  and  even  the  French,  had  so  long  continued  our  acknowledged 
superiors,  that  it  was  almost  feared  that  the  British  genius,  which  had  so 
happily  displayed  itself  in  every  other  kind  of  writing,  and  had  gained  the 
prize  in  most,  yet  could  not  enter  the  list  in  this.  The  historical  work  Mr. 
Hume  first  published  discharged  our  country  from  this  opprobrium " 
(Burke  (?),  Annual  Register,  1761,  ii.,  301). 

(1770.)  "I  believe  this  is  the  historical  age,  and  this  [the  Scotch]  the 
historical  nation  "  (Hume,  Letters  of  Hume  to  Strahan,  p.  155). 

(1828. )  ' '  The  historians  of  our  own  country  are  unequalled  in  depth  and 
precision  of  reason  ;  and  even  in  the  works  of  our  mere  compilers  we  often 
meet  with  speculations  beyond  the  reach  of  Thucydides  or  Tacitus " 
(Macaulay,  Misc.   Writings,  ed.  1871,  p.  153). 

(1849.)  "The  truth  is  that  I  admire  no  historians  muph  except  Hero- 
dotus, Thucydides,  and  Tacitus.  Perhaps,  in  his  way,  a  very  peculiar  way, 
I  might  add  Fra  Paolo.  The  modern  writers  who  have  most  of  the  great 
qualities  of  the  ancient  masters  of  history  are  some  memoir  writers ;  St. 
Simon  for  example.  There  is  merit,  no  doubt,  in  Hume,  Robertson,  Voltaire, 
and  Gibbon.  Yet  it  is  not  the  thing  "  (Macaulay,  Trevelyan's  Life,  ed.  1877, 
ii.,  270). 

Condorcet  says,  in  his  Life  of  Voltaire:  "Voltaire  a  l'honneur  d'avoir 
fait,  dans  la  maniere  d'ecrire  l'histoire,  une  revolution  dont  a  la  ve>it6 
l'Angleterre  a  presque  seule  profits  jusqu'ici.  Hume,  Robertson,  Gibbon, 
Watson  [History  of  Philip  //.],  peuvent,  a  quelques  egards,  etre  regarded 
comme  sortis  de  son  ecole     (CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  lxiv.,  90). 

"Hume,"  said  Johnson,  "would  never  have  written  History,  had  not 
Voltaire  written  it  before  him.  He  is  an  echo  of  Voltaire  "  (Boswell's  John- 
son, ii.,  53).  "  Hume's  manner, "  wrote  Horace  Walpole,  "is  imitated  from 
Voltaire  "  (Walpole's  Letters,  ii.,  429). 


22.  ROBERTSON  AND  HUME  (p.  122). 

Gibbon  wrote  to  Robertson  in  1783:  "I  will  frankly  own  that  my  pride 
is  elated  as  often  as  I  find  myself  ranked  in  the  triumvirate  of  British 
Historians  of  the  present  age,  and  though  I  feel  myself  the  Lepidus,  I  con- 
template with  pleasure  the  superiority  of  my  colleagues  "  (Dugald  Stewart's 
Life  of  Robertson,  ed.  1811,  p.  305).  Lepidus  was  the  "slight  unmeritable 
man"  joined  with  Antony  and  Octavius  {Julius  Ccesar,  iv.,  1.,  12).  Five 
years  later  Gibbon  wrote  again  to  Robertson :  "The  praise  which  has  ever  been 
the  most  flattering  to  my  ear  is  to  find  my  name  associated  with  the  names 
of  Robertson  and  Hume  ;  and  provided  I  can  maintain  my  place  in  the 
triumvirate,  I  am  indifferent  at  what  distance  I  am  ranked  below  my  com- 
panions and  masters  "  (Life  of  Robertson,  ed.  1811,  p.  367).  In  The  Decline, 
vii.,  296,  he  says  that  "  Guicciardini  and  Machiavel,  Fra  Paolo,  and  Davila 
were  justly  esteemed  the  first  historians  of  modern  languages,  till,  in  the 
present  age,  Scotland  arose,  to  dispute  the  prize  with  Italy  herself".  He 
thus  praises  Robertson :  "The  eloquence  of  a  modern  historian  has  rendered 
the  name  of  Charles  V.  so  familiar  to  an  English  reader  "  (id.,  i.,  385).  In  the 
Preface  to  the  second  half  of  the  History  (id.,  i.,  Preface,  p.  11)  he  speaks 
of  him  as  "a  master-artist".  In  his  Vindication  he  calls  him  "the  first 
historian  of  the  present  age  "  (Misc,  Works,  iv.,  516).     See  also  ante,  p.  195. 


APPENDIX  297 

Lord  Chesterfield  wrote  to  his  son  on  April  16,  1759  :  "There  is  an  History 
lately  come  out  of  the  Reign  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  and  her  son  (no  matter 
by  whom)  King  James,  written  by  one  Robertson,  a  Scotchman,  which  for 
clearness,  purity,  and  dignity  of  style  I  will  not  scruple  to  compare  with  the 
best  historians  extant,  not  excepting  Davila,  Guicciardini,  and  perhaps  Livy  " 
{Letters  to  his  Son,  iv.,  178). 

Johnson  reproached  Robertson  with  "verbiage".  "If  Robertson's  style 
be  faulty,  he  owes  it  to  me  ;  that  is  having  too  many  words,  and  those  too 
big  ones"  (Boswell's  Johnson,  ii.,  236;  iii.,  173). 

Hume  he  accused  of  gallicisms.  "Why,  Sir,  his  style  is  not  English  ;  the 
structure  of  his  sentences  is  French  "  (ii.,  i.,  439).  "I  told  Johnson,"  writes 
Boswell,  "that  David  Hume  had  made  a  short  collection  of  Scotticisms. 
'I  wonder  (said  he)  that  he  should  find  them'"  (ii.,  ii.,  72).  Strahan,  the 
printer,  Dr.  Beattie  tells  us,  "  had  corrected  the  phraseology  of  both  Hume 
and  Robertson  "  (Forbes 's  Beattie,  ed.  1824,  p.  341).  Johnson,  most  likely, 
had  helped  Strahan  in  correcting  Robertson  (Johnson's  Letters,  i.,  412). 

Lord  Mansfield  told  Dr.  A.  Carlyle  that  "when  he  was  reading  Hume  and 
Robertson's  books  he  did  not  think  he  was  reading  English  "  (Dr.  A.  Carlyle's 
Auto.,  p.  516). 

On  the  other  hand  Horace  Walpole,  in  1755,  said  of  Hume's  History  in  its 
first  edition,  and  not  in  its  later  ones,  which  were  cleared  of  many  inaccu- 
racies of  style:  "His  style,  which  is  the  best  we  have  in  history,  and  his 
manner  imitated  from  Voltaire,  are  very  pleasing "  (Walpole's  Letters,  ii., 
429).  In  1791  he  wrote  :  "As  Dr.  Robertson  has  not  the  genius,  penetration, 
sagacity,  and  art  of  Mr.  Gibbon,  he  cannot  melt  his  materials  together,  and 
make  them  elucidate,  and  even  improve  and  produce,  new  discoveries  ;  in 
short,  he  cannot,  like  Mr  Gibbon,  make  an  original  picture  with  some  bits  of 
Mosaic"  (ii.,  ix.,  361). 

Cowper,  writing  to  John  Newton  in  1783  of  "the  two  most  renowned 
writers  of  history  the  present  day  has  seen,"  continues  :  "In  your  style  I  see 
no  affectation.  In  every  line  of  theirs  I  see  nothing  else.  They  disgust  me 
always,  Robertson  with  his  pomp  and  his  strut,  and  Gibbon  with  his  finical 
and  French  manners  "  (Southey's  Cowper,  iv.,  291). 

Lord  Brougham,  whose  mother  was  Robertson's  niece,  wrote  in  1838  :  "I 
have  some  little  knack  of  narrative,  the  most  difficult  by  far  of  all  styles,  and 
never  yet  attained  in  perfection  but  by  Hume  and  Livy  "  (Macvev  Napier, 
Cor  res.,  p.  239). 

"Are  there  not  in  the  Dissertation  on  India,  the  last  of  Dr.  Robertson's 
works  .  .  .  Scotticisms  at  which  a  London  apprentice  would  laugh  ? " 
(Macaulay's  Essays,  ed.  1874,  iv.,  181.) 

"Hume,"  writes  Bagehot,  "is  always  idiomatic,  but  his  idioms  are  con- 
stantly wrong  ;  many  of  his  best  passages  are  on  that  account  curiously 
grating  and  puzzling  ;  you  feel  that  they  are  very  like  what  an  Englishman 
would  say  ;  but  yet  that,  after  all,  somehow  or  other,  they  are  what  he  never 
would  say.  There  is  a  minute  seasoning  of  imperceptible  difference  which 
distracts  your  attention,  and  which  you  are  for  ever  stopping  to  analyse  " 
(Biog.  Studies,  i.,  272). 

Saint-Beuve,  after  quoting  Gibbon's  praise  of  Hume,  continues  :  ' '  Cette 
parole  est  bien  celle  d'un  homme  de  gout  qui  appr£cie  X^nophon  [ante,  p.  92]. 
On  a  si  souvent  dans  ces  dernieres  annees  declare"  David  Hume  vaincu  et 
surpass^,  que  je  me  plais  a  rappeler  un  t^moignage  si  vif  et  si  delicatement 
rendu  "  (Causeries,  viii.,  445). 

Carlyle,  in  1818,  wrote  of  Hume,  Robertson,  and  Gibbon:  "The  whole 
historical  triumvirate  are  abundantly  destitute  of  virtuous  feeling — or  indeed 
of  any  feeling  at  all  "  (Early  Letters  of  Carlyle,  i.,  143). 


298  APPENDIX 

23.  A  STANDING  ARMY  (p.  135). 

The  general  dislike  of  a  standing  army  is  shown  in  Dryden's  lines  (Pa/a- 
vion  and  Arcite,  iii.,  G71) : — 

"  Laughed  all  the  powers  who  favour  tyranny, 
And  all  the  standing  army  of  the  sky." 

The  following  extracts  illustrating  this  dislike  I  have  arranged  in  order  of 
time  : — 

(1707.)  "There  is  not  a  more  disagreeable  thought  to  the  people  of  Great 
Britain  than  that  of  a  standing  army  "  (Addison,   Works,  ed.  1864,  iv.,  356). 

(1726.)  "  Above  all,  he  [the  King  of  Brobdingnag]  was  amazed  to  hear  me 
talk  of  a  mercenary  standing  army,  in  the  midst  of  peace,  and  among  a  free 
people"  (Swift,   Works,  ed.  1883,  xi.,  159). 

(Undated.)  "  A  standing  army  in  England,  whether  in  time  of  peace  or 
war,  is  a  direct  absurdity  "  (ii.,  ix.,  257). 

(1734.)  "  It  is  certain  that  if  ever  such  men  as  call  themselves  friends  to 
the  government,  but  are  real  enemies  of  the  constitution,  prevail,  they  will 
make  it  a  capital  point  of  their  wicked  policy  to  keep  up  a  standing  army  " 
(Lord  Bolingbroke,   Works,  ed.  1809,  iii.,  164). 

(1735.)  Lord  Hervey  (Memoirs,  ii.,  80),  talking  in  1735  to  Queen  Caroline, 
"  who  loved  troops  full  as  well  as  the  King,"  said  that  "  as  a  standing  army 
was  the  thing  in  the  world  that  was  most  disliked  in  this  country,  so  the 
reduction  of  any  part  of  it  was  a  measure  that  always  made  any  Prince  more 
popular  than  any  other  he  coidd  take  ". 

(1742,  during  the  war  with  Spain.)  "  April  29.— We  had  a  debate  yester- 
day in  the  House  on  a  proposal  for  replacing  four  thousand  men  of  some  that 
are  to  be  sent  abroad,  that,  in  short,  we  might  have  fifteen  thousand  men  to 
guard  the  Kingdom.  This  was  strongly  opposed  by  the  Tories,  but  we  carried 
it  by  280  against  139  "  (Horace  Walpole,  Letters,  i.,  159). 

(1730-45.)  In  the  Index  to  The  Gent.  Mag.  for  these  years  there  are  fifty 
entries  under  the  head,   "Army,  standing,  for  and  against". 

(1757.)  'A  standing  army  of  mercenary  troops  always  at  last  begin  to  look 
upon  themselves  as  the  masters  of  that  country  where  they  are  kept  up  " 
(Earl  Stanhope,  Pari.  Hist.,  xv.,  710). 

(1757.)  "  That  foreign  weed  called  a  standing  army.  Such  an  army  never 
was  the  natural  produce  of  this  kingdom,  and  while  it  is  under  its  present 
regulation,  I  can  hardly  call  those  that  belong  to  it  Englishmen  "  (Duke  of 
Bedford,  ib.,  p.  720). 

(1761.)  "  It  cannot  but  offend  every  Englishman  to  see  troops  of  soldiers 
placed  between  him  and  his  sovereign  "  (Johnson,   Works,  v.,  458). 

(1765.)  "Nothing  then  .  .  .  ought  to  be  more  guarded  against  in  a  free 
state  than  making  the  military  power,  when  such  a  one  is  necessary  to  be 
kept  on  foot,  a  body  too  distinct  from  the  people.  Like  ours,  therefore,  it 
should  wholly  be  composed  of  natural  subjects  ;  it  ought  only  to  be  enlisted 
for  a  short  and  limited  time ;  the  soldiers  also  should  live  intermixed  with 
the  people  ;  no  separate  camp,  no  barracks,  no  inland  fortresses  should  be 
allowed      (Blackstone,  Comment.,  ed.  1775,  i.,  414). 

(1781.)  "The  invincible  jealousy  of  military  power,  which  had  so  long 
characterised  this  country,  grew  familiarised  to  the  aspect  of  camps  and 
garrisons"  (Burke,  Ann.  Reg.,  1781,  i.,  138). 


24.  AN  EXTRACT  FROM  GIBBON'S  JOURNAL— LIFE  IN  THE 

MILITIA  (p.  135). 

Journal,   1761,   January  11.— In  these  seven  or  eight  months  of  a  most 
disagreeably  active  life,  I  have  had  no  studies  to  set  down  ;  indeed,  I  hardly 


APPENDIX  299 

took  a  book  in  my  hand  the  whole  time.  The  first  two  months  at  Blandford, 
I  might  have  done  something  ;  but  the  novelty  of  the  thing,  of  which  for 
some  time  I  was  so  fond  as  to  think  of  going  into  the  army,  our  field-days, 
our  dinners  abroad,  and  the  drinking  and  late  hours  we  got  into,  prevented 
any  serious  reflections.  From  the  day  we  marched  from  Blandford  I  had 
hardly  a  moment  I  could  call  my  own,  almost  continually  in  motion  ;  if  I 
was  fixed  for  a  day,  it  was  in  the  guard-room,  a  barrack,  or  an  inn.  Our  dis- 
putes consumed  the  little  time  I  had  left.  Every  letter,  every  memorial 
relative  to  them  fell  to  my  share  ;  and  our  evening  conferences  were  used  to 
hear  all  the  morning  hours  strike.  At  last  I  got  to  Dover,  and  Sir  Thomas 
[ante,  p.  13(3]  left  us  for  two  months.  The  charm  was  over,  I  was  sick  of  so 
hateful  a  service  ;  I  was  settled  in  a  comparatively  quiet  situation.  Once  more 
I  began  to  taste  the  pleasure  of  thinking. 

Recollecting  some  thoughts  I  had  formerly  had  in  relation  to  the  system  of 
Paganism,  which  I  intended  to  make  use  of  in  my  Essay,  I  resolved  to  read 
Tully  de  Natura  Deorum,  and  finished  it  in  about  a  month.  I  lost  some  time 
before  I  could  recover  my  habit  of  application. 

October  23. — Our  first  design  was  to  march  through  Marlborough  ;  but 
finding  on  inquiry  that  it  was  a  bad  road,  and  a  great  way  about,  we  resolved 
to  push  for  the  Devizes  in  one  day,  though  nearly  thirty  miles.  We  accord- 
ingly arrived  there  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

November  2.  [This  date  evidently  marks  the  beginning,  and  not  the  end, 
of  a  period.] — I  have  very  little  to  say  for  this  and  the  following  month. 
Nothing  could  be  more  uniform  than  the  life  I  led  there.  The  little  civility 
of  the  neighbouring  gentlemen  gave  us  no  opportunity  of  dining  out ;  the  time 
of  year  did  not  tempt  us  to  any  excursions  round  the  country ;  and  at  first  my 
indolence,  and  afterwards  a  violent  cold,  prevented  my  going  over  to  Bath. 
I  believe  in  the  two  months  I  never  dined  or  lay  from  quarters.  I  can  there- 
fore only  set  down  what  I  did  in  the  literary  way.  Designing  to  recover  my 
Greek,  which  I  had  somewhat  neglected,  I  set  myself  to  read  Homer,  and 
finished  the  four  first  books  of  the  Iliad,  with  Pope's  translation  and  notes  ; 
at  the  same  time,  to  understand  the  geography  of  the  Iliad,  and  particularly 
the  catalogue,  I  read  the  books  8th,  9th,  10th,  12th,  13th,  and  14th  of 
Strabo,  in  Casaubon's  Latin  translation  ;  I  likewise  read  Hume's  History  of 
England  to  the  Reign  of  Henry  the  Seventh,  just  published,  ingenious  but 
superficial ;  and  the  Journal  des  Scavans  for  August,  September,  and 
October,  1761,  with  the  Bibliotheque  des  Sciences,  &c,  from  July  to  October. 
Both  these  Journals  speak  very  handsomely  of  my  book. 

December  25,  1761. — When,  upon  finishing  the  year,  I  take  a  review  of 
what  I  have  done,  I  am  not  dissatisfied  with  what  I  did  in  it,  upon  making- 
proper  allowances.  On  the  one  hand,  I  could  begin  nothing  before  the  middle 
of  January.  The  Deal  duty  lost  me  part  of  February  ;  although  I  was  at 
home  part  of  March,  and  all  April,  yet  electioneering  is  no  friend  to  the 
Muses.  May,  indeed,  though  dissipated  by  our  sea  parties,  was  pretty  quiet  ; 
but  June  was  absolutely  lost,  upon  the  march,  at  Alton,  and  settling  our- 
selves in  camp.  The  four  succeeding  months  in  camp  allowed  me  little  leisure 
and  less  quiet.  November  and  December  were  indeed  as  much  my  own  as 
any  time  can  be  whilst  I  remain  in  the  militia  ;  but  still  it  is,  at  best,  not  a 
life  for  a  man  of  letters.  However,  in  this  tumultuous  year  (besides  smaller 
things  which  I  have  set  down)  I  read  four  books  of  Homer  in  Greek,  six  of 
Strabo  in  Latin,  Cicero  de  Natura  Deoru?n,  and  the  great  philosophical  and 
theological  work  of  M.  de  Beausobre  :  I  wrote  in  the  same  time  a  long  dis- 
sertation on  the  succession  of  Naples  [ante,  p.  144] ;  reviewed,  fitted  for  the 
press,  and  augmented  above  a  fourth,  my  Essai  but  l'Etude  de  la  Litterature 
[ante,  p.  120]. 

In  the  six  weeks  I  passed  at  Beriton,  as  I  never  stirred  from  it,  every  day 
was  like  the  former.  I  had  neither  visits,  hunting,  or  walking.  My  only 
resources  were  myself,  my  books,  and  family  conversations. — But  to  me  these 
were  great  resources. 


300  APPENDIX 

April  24,  1762. — I  waited  upon  Colonel  Harvey  in  the  morning,  to  get  him 
to  apply  for  me  to  be  brigade-major  to  Lord  Effingham,  as  a  post  I  should  be 
very  fond  of,  and  for  which  I  am  not  unfit.  Harvey  received  me  with  great 
good  nature  and  candour,  told  me  he  was  both  willing  and  able  to  serve  me  ; 
that  indeed  he  had  already  applied  to  Lord  Effingham  for  Leake,  one  of  his 
own  officers,  and  though  there  would  be  more  than  one  brigade-major,  he  did 
not  think  he  could  properly  recommend  two  ;  but  that  if  I  could  get  some 
other  person  to  break  the  ice,  he  would  second  it,  and  believed  he  should 
succeed  :  should  that  fail,  as  Leake  was  in  bad  circumstances,  he  believed  he 
could  make  a  compromise  with  him  (this  was  m}7  desire)  to  let  me  do  the 
duty  without  pay.  I  went  from  him  to  the  Mallets,  who  promised  to  get  Sir 
Charles  Howard  to  speak  to  Lord  Effingham. 

May  8. — This  was  my  birthday,  on  which  I  entered  into  the  twenty -sixth 
year  of  my  age.  This  gave  me  occasion  to  look  a  little  into  myself,  and  con- 
sider impartially  my  good  and  bad  qualities.  It  appeared  to  me,  upon  this 
inquiry,  that  my  character  was  virtuous,  incapable  of  a  base  action,  and 
formed  for  generous  ones  ;  but  that  it  was  proud,  violent,  and  disagreeable  in 
society.  These  qualities  I  must  endeavour  to  cultivate,  extirpate,  or  restrain, 
according  to  their  different  tendency.  Wit  I  have  none.  My  imagination  is 
rather  strong  than  pleasing.  My  memory  both  capacious  and  retentive.  The 
shining  qualities  of  my  understanding  are  extensiveness  and  penetration  ;  but 
I  want  both  quickness  and  exactness.  As  to  my  situation  in  life,  though  I 
may  sometimes  repine  at  it,  it  perhaps  is  the  best  adapted  to  my  character. 
I  can  command  all  the  conveniences  of  life,  and  I  can  command  too  that 
independence  (that  first  earthly  blessing),  which  is  hardly  to  be  met  with  in  a 
higher  or  lower  fortune.  When  I  talk  of  my  situation,  I  must  exclude  that 
temporary  one,  of  being  in  the  militia.  Though  I  go  through  it  with  spirit 
and  application,  it  is  both  unfit  for,  and  unworthy  of  me. 

August  22. — I  went  with  Ballard  to  the  French  church  [at  Southampton], 
where  I  heard  a  most  indifferent  sermon  preached  by  M.  .  .  .  A  very  bad  style, 
a  worse  pronunciation  and  action,  and  a  very  great  vacuity  of  ideas,  composed 
this  excellent  performance.  Upon  the  whole,  which  is  preferable,  the  philo- 
sophic method  of  the  English,  or  the  rhetoric  of  the  French  preachers  ?  The 
first  (though  less  glorious)  is  certainly  safer  for  the  preacher.  It  is  difficult  for 
a  man  to  make  himself  ridiculous,  who  proposes  only  to  deliver  plain  sense  on 
a  subject  he  has  thoroughly  studied.  But  the  instant  he  discovers  the  least 
pretentions  towards  the  sublime,  or  the  pathetic,  there  is  no  medium  ;  we 
must  either  admire  or  laugh  :  and  there  are  so  many  various  talents  requisite 
to  form  the  character  of  an  orator,  that  it  is  more  than  probable  we  shall 
laugh.  As  to  the  advantage  of  the  hearer,  which  ought  to  be  the  great  con- 
sideration, the  dilemma  is  much  greater.  Excepting  in  some  particular  cases, 
where  we  are  blinded  by  popular  prejudices,  we  are  in  general  so  well 
acquainted  with  our  duty,  that  it  is  almost  superfluous  to  convince  us  of  it. 
It  is  the  heart,  and  not  the  head,  that  holds  out  ;  and  it  is  certainly  possible, 
by  a  moving  eloquence,  to  rouse  the  sleeping  sentiments  of  that  heart,  and 
incite  it  to  acts  of  virtue.  Unluckily  it  is  not  so  much  acts,  as  habits  of 
virtue,  we  should  have  in  view ;  and  the  preacher  who  is  inculcating,  with 
the  eloquence  of  a  Bourdaloue,  the  necessity  of  a  virtuous  life,  will  dismiss 
his  assembly  full  of  emotions,  which  a  variety  of  other  objects,  the  coldness 
of  our  northern  constitutions,  and  no  immediate  opportunity  of  exerting  their 
good  resolutions,  will  dissipate  in  a  few  moments. 

August  24. — The  same  reason  that  carried  so  many  people  to  the  assembly 
to-night,  was  what  kept  me  away  ;  I  mean  the  dancing. 

August  28. — To-day  Sir  Thomas  came  to  us  to  dinner.  The  Spa  has  done 
him  a  great  deal  of  good,  for  he  looks  another  man.  Pleased  to  see  him,  we 
kept  bumperising  till  after  roll-calling  ;  Sir  Thomas  assuring  us,  every  fresh 
bottle,  how  infinitely  soberer  he  was  grown. 

August  29. — I  felt  the  usual  consequences  of  Sir  Thomas's  company,  and 


APPENDIX 


301 


lost  a  morning,  because  I  had  lost  the  day  before.  However,  having  finished 
Voltaire,  I  returned  to  Le  Clerc  (I  mean  for  the  amusement  of  my  leisure 
hours)  ;  and  laid  aside  for  some  time  his  Bibliotheque  Universelle,  to  look  into 
the  Bibliotheque  Choisie,  which  is  by  far  the  better  work. 

September  23.  Colonel  Wilkes,  of  the  Buckinghamshire  Militia,  dined 
with  us,  and  renewed  the  acquaintance  Sir  Thomas  and  myself  had  begun 
with  him  at  Reading.  I  scarcely  ever  met  with  a  better  companion  ;  he  has 
inexhaustible  spirits,  infinite  wit  and  humour,  and  a  great  deal  of  knowledge  ; 
but  a  thorough  profligate  in  principle  as  in  practice,  his  life  stained  with  every 
vice,  and  his  conversation  full  of  blasphemy  and  indecency.  These  morals  he 
glories  in — -for  shame  is  a  weakness  he  has  long  since  surmounted.  He  told 
us  himself,  that  in  this  time  of  public  dissension  he  was  resolved  to  make 
his  fortune.  Upon  this  noble  principle  he  has  connected  himself  closely  with 
Lord  Temple  and  Mr  Pitt,  commenced  a  public  adversary  to  Lord  Bute, 
whom  he  abuses  weekly  in  the  North  Briton,  and  other  political  papers  in 
which  he  is  concerned.  This  proved  a  very  debauched  day  :  we  drank  a  good 
deal  both  after  dinner  and  supper  ;  and  when  at  last  Wilkes  had  retired,  Sir 
Thomas  and  some  others  (of  whom  I  was  not  one)  broke  into  his  room,  and 
made  him  drink  a  bottle  of  claret  in  bed. 

October  5. — The  review,  which  lasted  about  three  hours,  concluded,  as 
usual,  with  marching  by  Lord  Effingham,  by  grand  divisions.  Upon  the 
whole,  considering  the  camp  had  done  both  the  Winchester  and  the  Gosport 
duties  all  the  summer,  they  behaved  very  well,  and  made  a  fine  appearance. 
As  they  marched  by,  I  had  my  usual  curiosity  to  count  their  files.  The 
following  is  my  field  return  :  I  think  it  a  curiosity  ;  I  am  sure  it  is  more  exact 
than  is  commonly  made  to  a  reviewing  general. 


Berkshire, 
W.  Essex, 
S.  Oldster, 
N.  Oldster, 
Lancashire, 
Wiltshire, 


No.  of  Files. 

r  Grenadiers,  19  i  q-. 

i  Battalion,  72  r     yi 

t  Grenadiers,  15  1  ^k 

X  Battalion,  80  '  J0 

(  Grenadiers,  20  (  1fl, 

1  Battalion,  84  f  iU4 

,  Grenadiers,  13  i  ,.r 

1  Battalion,  52  ;  D0 

,  Grenadiers,  20  )  1fia 

t  Battalion,  88  >  iU8 

(  Grenadiers,  24  \ 


Battalion,    120     ' 


144 


Total,     607 


>.  of  Men. 

Establishment, 

273 

— 

560 

285 

— 

480 

312 

— 

600 

195 

— 

360 

324 

— 

800 

432 

— 

800 

1,821 

3,600 

N.B. — The  Gosport  detachment  from  the  Lancashire  consisted  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  men.  The  Buckinghamshire  took  the  Winchester  duty 
that  day. 

So  that  this  camp  in  England,  supposed  complete,  with  only  one  detach- 
ment, had  under  arms,  on  the  day  of  the  grand  review,  little  more  than  half 
their  establishment.  This  amazing  deficiency  (though  exemplified  in  every 
regiment  I  have  seen)  is  an  extraordinary  military  phenomenon  :  what  must 
it  be  upon  foreign  service  ?  I  doubt  whether  a  nominal  army  of  an  hundred 
thousand  men  often  brings  fifty  into  the  field. 

Upon  our  return  to  Southampton  in  the  evening,  we  found  Sir  Thomas 
Worsley. 

October  21.  — One  of  those  impulses,  which  it  is  neither  very  easy  nor  very 
necessary  to  withstand,  drew  me  from  Longinus  to  a  very  different  subject, 
the  Greek  Calendar.  Last  night,  when  in  bed,  I  was  thinking  of  a  disserta- 
tion of  M.  de  la  Nauze  upon  the  Roman  calendar,  which  I  read  last  year. 


302  APPENDIX 

This  led  me  to  consider  what  was  the  Greek,  and  finding  myself  very  ignorant 
of  it,  I  determined  to  read  a  short,  but  very  excellent  abstract  of  Mr.  Dod- 
well's  book  de  Cyclis,  by  the  famous  Dr.  Halley.  It  is  only  twenty -five  pages  ; 
but  as  I  meditated  it  thoroughly,  and  verified  all  the  calculations,  it  was  a 
very  good  morning's  work. 

October  28. — I  looked  over  a  new  Greek  Lexicon  which  I  have  just  received 
from  London.  It  is  that  of  Robert  Constantine,  Lugdun,  1637.  It  is  a  very 
large  volume  in  folio,  in  two  parts,  comprising  in  the  whole  1,785  pages. 
After  the  great  Thesaurus,  this  is  esteemed  the  best  Greek  Lexicon.  It  seems 
to  be  so.  Of  a  variety  of  words  for  which  I  looked,  I  always  found  an  exact 
definition  ;  the  various  senses  well  distinguished,  and  properly  supported,  by 
the  best  authorities.  However,  I  still  prefer  the  radical  method  of  Scapula 
to  this  alphabetical  one. 

December  11. — I  have  already  given  an  idea  of  the  Gosport  duty  ;  I  shall 
only  add  a  trait  which  characterises  admirably  our  unthinking  sailors.  At  a 
time  when  they  knew  that  they  should  infallibly  be  discharged  in  a  few 
weeks,  numbers,  who  had  considerable  wages  due  to  them,  were  continually 
jumping  over  the  walls,  and  risquing  the  losing  of  it  for  a  few  hours'  amuse- 
ment at  Portsmouth. 

December  17.  — We  found  old  Captain  Meard  at  Arlesf ord,  with  the  second 
division  of  the  fourteenth.  He  and  all  his  officers  supped  with  us,  and  made 
the  evening  rather  a  drunken  one. 

December  18. — About  the  same  hour  our  two  corps  paraded  to  march  off. 
They,  an  old  corps  of  regulars,  who  had  been  two  years  quiet  in  Dover  Castle. 
We,  part  of  a  young  body  of  militia,  two-thirds  of  our  men  recruits,  of  four 
months'  standing,  two  of  which  they  had  passed  upon  very  disagreeable  duty. 
Every  advantage  was  on  their  side,  and  yet  our  superiority,  both  as  to 
appearance  and  discipline,  was  so  striking,  that  the  most  prejudiced  regular 
could  not  have  hesitated  a  moment.  At  the  end  of  the  town  our  two  com- 
panies separated  ;  my  father's  struck  off  for  Petersfield,  whilst  I  continued 
my  route  to  Alton  ;  into  which  place  I  marched  my  company  about  noon ; 
two  years  six  months  and  fifteen  days  after  my  first  leaving  it.  I  gave  the 
men  some  beer  at  roll-calling,  which  they  received  with  great  cheerfulness 
and  decency.  I  dined  and  lay  at  Harrison's,  where  I  was  received  with  that 
old-fashioned  breeding,  which  is  at  once  so  honourable  and  so  troublesome. 

December  23. — Our  two  companies  were  disembodied  ;  mine  at  Alton,  and 
my  father's  at  Beriton.  Smith  marched  them  over  from  Petersfield  :  they 
fired  three  volleys,  lodged  the  major's  colours,  delivered  up  their  arms, 
received  their  money,  partook  of  a  dinner  at  the  major's  expense,  and  then 
separated  with  great  cheerfulness  and  regularity.  Thus  ended  the  militia  ; 
I  may  say  ended,  since  our  annual  assemblies  in  May  are  so  very  precarious, 
and  can  be  of  so  little  use.  However,  our  Serjeants  and  drums  are  still  kept 
up,  and  quartered  at  the  rendezvous  of  their  company,  and  the  adjutant 
remains  at  Southampton  in  full  pay. 

As  this  was  an  extraordinary  scene  of  life,  in  which  I  was  'engaged  above 
three  years  and  a  half  from  the  date  of  my  commission,  and  above  two  years 
and  a  half  from  the  time  of  our  embodying,  I  cannot  take  my  leave  of  it 
without  some  few  reflections.  When  I  engaged  in  it,  I  was  totally  ignorant 
of  its  nature  and  consequences.  I  offered,  because  my  father  did,  without 
ever  imagining  that  we  should  be  called  out,  till  it  was  too  late  to  retreat 
with  honour.  Indeed,  I  believe  it  happens  throughout,  that  our  most 
important  actions  have  been  often  determined  by  chance,  caprice,  or  some 
very  inadequate  motive.  After  our  embodying,  many  things  contributed  to 
make  me  support  it  with  great  impatience.  Our  continual  disputes  with  the 
duke  of  Bolton  ;  our  unsettled  way  of  life,  which  hardly  allowed  me  books  or 
leisure  for  study  ;  and  more  than  all,  the  disagreeable  society  in  which  I  was 
forced  to  live. 

After  mentioning  my  sufferings,  I  must  say  something  of  what  I  found 


APPENDIX  303 

agreeable.  Now  it  is  over,  I  can  make  the  separation  much  better  than  I 
could  at  the  time.  1.  The  unsettled  way  of  life  itself  had  its  advantages. 
The  exercise  and  change  of  air  and  of  objects  amused  me,  at  the  same  time 
that  it  fortified  my  health.  2.  A  new  field  of  knowledge  and  amusement 
opened  itself  to  me  ;  that  of  military  affairs,  which,  both  in  mj'  studies  and 
travels,  will  give  me  eyes  for  a  new  world  of  things,  which  before  would  have 
passed  unheeded.  Indeed,  in  that  respect  I  can  hardly  help  wishing  our 
battalion  had  continued  another  year.  We  had  got  a  fine  set  of  new  men, 
all  our  difficulties  were  over  ;  we  were  perfectly  well  clothed  and  appointed  ; 
and,  from  the  progress  our  recruits  had  already  made,  we  could  promise  our- 
selves that  we  should  be  one  of  the  best  militia  corps  by  next  summer  ;  a 
circumstance  that  would  have  been  the  more  agreeable  to  me,  as  I  am  now 
established  the  real  acting  major  of  the  battalion.  But  what  I  value  most, 
is  the  knowledge  it  has  given  me  of  mankind  in  general,  and  of  my  own 
country  in  particular.  The  general  system  of  our  government,  the  methods 
of  our  several  offices,  the  departments  and  powers  of  their  respective  officers, 
our  provincial  and  municipal  administration,  the  views  of  our  several  parties, 
the  characters,  connections,  and  influence  of  our  principal  people,  have  been 
impressed  on  my  mind,  not  by  vain  theory,  but  by  the  indelible  lessons  of 
action  and  experience.  I  have  made  a  number  of  valuable  acquaintance,  and 
am  myself  much  better  known,  than  (with  my  reserved  character)  I  should 
have  been  in  ten  years,  passing  regularly  my  summers  at  Beriton,  and  my 
winters  in  London.  So  that  the  sum  of  all  is,  that  I  am  glad  the  militia  has 
been,  and  glad  that  it  is  no  more. 


25.  GENIUS  (p.  143). 

Dean  Barnard,  addressing  Reynolds,  wrote  : — 

"  Thou  say'st  not  only  skill  is  gained, 
But  genius,  too,  may  be  obtained, 
By  studious  imitation  ". 

(Boswell's  Johnson,  iv.,  432). 

Reynolds,  in  his  Third  Discourse,  speaking  of  "the  gusto  grande  of  the 
Italians,  the  beau  idial  of  the  French,  and  the  great  style,  genius,  and  taste. 
among  the  English,"  continues:  "It  is  this  intellectual  dignity,  they  say, 
that  ennobles  the  painter's  art,  that  lays  the  line  between  him  and  the  mere 
mechanic ;  and  produces  those  great  effects  in  an  instant,  which  eloquence 
and  poetry,  by  slow  and  repeated  efforts,  are  scarcely  able  to  attain.  .  .  . 
The  student  examines  his  own  mind,  and  perceives  there  nothing  of  that 
divine  inspiration.  .  .  .  He  never  travelled  to  Heaven  to  gather  new  ideas, 
and  he  finds  himself  possessed  of  no  other  qualification  than  what  mere  com- 
mon observation  and  a  plain  understanding  can  confer.  Thus  he  thinks  it 
hopeless  to  pursue  an  object  which  he  supposes  out  of  the  reach  of  human 
industry"  (Reynolds's  Works,  ed.  1824,  i.,  44). 

According  to  Northcote  {Life  of  Reynolds,  i.,  11),  "Sir  Joshua  regarded 
ambition  as  the  cause  of  eminence,  but  accident  as  pointing  out  the  means  ". 
This  he  might  have  got  from  Hume  as  well  as  from  Johnson.  "A  man's 
genius,"  wrote  Hume,  "is  always  in  the  beginning  of  life  as  much  unknown 
to  himself  as  to  others.  ...  A  noble  emulation  is  the  source  of  every  excel- 
lence "  (Hume's  Essays,  ed.  1770,  i.,  160). 

Blake  attacked  Reynolds's  Third  Discourse.  "It  is,"  he  wrote,  "parti- 
cularly interesting  to  blockheads,  as  it  endeavours  to  prove  that  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  inspiration,  and  that  any  man  of  a  plain  understanding  may, 
by  thieving  from  others,  become  a  Michael  Angelo  "  (Gilchrist's  Blake,  i., 
261).  Blake  misrepresents  Reynolds,  who  would  have  maintained,  with 
Johnson,  that  "the  true  genius  is  a  mind  of  large  general  powers,  accident- 


304  APPENDIX 

ally  determined  to  some  particular  direction"  (Johnson's  Works,  vii.,  1). 
"lam  persuaded,"  said  Johnson,  "that  had  Sir  Isaac  Newton  applied  to 
poetry  he  would  have  made  a  very  fine  epick  poem.  I  could  as  easily  apply 
to  law  as  to  tragick  poetry  "  (Bos well's  Johnson,  v.,  35).  (Newton,  by  the 
way,  ' '  being  asked  his  opinion  of  poetry,  quoted  a  sentiment  of  Barrow, 
that  it  was  ingenious  nonsense"  (Warton's  Pope's  Works,  iii.,  177)).  Newton, 
writing  about  his  Treatise  on  the  Solar  System,  said:  "If  I  have  done  the 
public  any  service  this  way,  it  is  due  to  nothing  but  industry  and  patient 
thought"  (Bentley's  Works,  ed.  1836,  ii.,  203).  "I  know  of  no  such  thing 
as  genius,"  said  Hogarth;  "genius  is  nothing  but  labour  and  diligence" 
(Seward's  Biographiana,  p.  203). 
Sir  Walter  Scott,  speaking  of 


continues  : — 


1  That  secret  power  by  all  obeyed," 


'  Whether  an  impulse  that  has  birth 
Soon  as  the  infant  wakes  on  earth, 
One  with  our  feelings  and  our  powers, 
And  rather  part  of  us  than  ours ; 
Or  whether  fitlier  termed  the  sway 
Of  habit,  formed  in  early  day  ; 
Howe'er  derived,  its  force  confest 
Rules  with  despotic  sway  the  breast " 


(Marmion,  Intro,  to  Canto  iii.). 


26.  ELVIRA  (p.  148). 

Gibbon  recorded  on  Jan.  10,  1763 :  "My  father  and  I  went  to  the  Rose,  in 
the  passage  of  the  play-house,  where  we  found  Mallet,  with  about  thirty 
friends.  We  dined  together,  and  went  thence  into  the  pit,  where  we  took 
our  places  in  a  body,  ready  to  silence  all  opposition.  However,  we  had  no 
occasion  to  exert  ourselves.  Notwithstanding  the  malice  of  party,  Mallet's 
nation  [Scotch],  connections,  and  indeed  imprudence,  we  heard  nothing  but 
applause.  I  think  it  was  deserved."  Gibbon,  who  had  been  calling  on  the 
French  ambassador,    "  undressed  for  the  play  "  {Misc.   Works,  i.,  157). 

Elvira  was  brought  out  at  Drury  Lane.  "The  part  of  Don  Pedro  was  the 
last  new  character  Garrick  ever  acted."  According  to  Davies,  he  was 
flattered  into  accepting  the  play.  Mallet  received  £1,000,  as  well  as  a  yearly 
pension,  from  the  Marlborough  family  for  writing  a  Life  of  the  great  Duke. 
Not  a  line  of  it  did  he  ever  write.  "  '  Do  you  know,  my  friend,'  he  said  to 
Garrick,  '  that  I  have  found  out  a  pretty  snug  niche  in  it  for  you  ? ' 
'  Heh  !  how  ;  that  for  me  ! '  said  the  manager,  turning  quickly  upon  him, 
his  eyes  sparkling  with  fire.  '  How  the  devil  could  you  bring  me  into  the 
history  of  Marlborough?'  'That's  my  business,'  rejoined  Mallet;  'but 
I  tell  you  I  have  done  it.'  'Well,  Mallet,  you  have  the  art  of  surprising 
your  friends  in  the  most  unexpected  manner  ;  but  why  won't  you  now,  who 
are  so  well  qualified,  write  something  for  the  stage  ? ' '  Elvira  was  pro- 
duced (Davies  s  Garrick,  ii.,  57).  Johnson,  in  his  Life  of  Mallet,  tells  the  same 
story. 

Had  Gibbon  stayed  a  few  days  longer  in  London  he  might  have  seen  the 
play  interrupted  by  a  riot.  "On  Jan.  25,  a  paper  was  dispersed  in  the 
taverns  and  coffee-houses,  complaining  of  the  Managers  of  the  Theatres  for 
refusing  admittance  at  the  end  of  the  third  act  for  half-price.  When  Mr. 
Holland  came  in  to  speak  the  prologue  to  Elvira  he  was  hissed  off. "  Garrick 
could  not  get  a  hearing.     "  The  benches  were  torn  up,  the  glass  lustres  were 


APPENDIX  305 

broken  ;  about  nine  the  house  was  cleared,  the  money  being  returned." 
Garrick  yielded  to  the  mob  (Gent.  Mag.,  1763,  p.  31).  The  play  did  not  run 
many  nights  longer,  in  spite  of  Mallet's  "acquainting  him  that  he  had 
received  forty  cards  from  persons  of  distinction,  all  of  whom  desired  to  know 
the  reason  why  his  play  was  stopped"  (Davies's  Garrick,  ii. ,  59).  "His 
dramas,"  writes  Johnson,  "had  their  day,  a  short  day,  and  are  forgotten " 
(Johnson's  Works,  viii.,  466). 


27.  L'ANGLOMANIE  (p.  151). 

Voltaire  begins  a  letter  to  the  Gazette  littiraire,  dated  Nov.  14,  1764,  sur 
VAnglomanie  :  "  Mille  gens,  messieurs,  s'elevent  et  declament  contre  l'anglo- 
manie :  j 'ignore  ce  qu'ils  entendent  par  ce  mot.  S'ils  veulent  parler  de  la 
fureur  de  travestir  en  modes  ridicules  quelques  usages  utiles,  de  transformer 
un  deshabille'  commode  en  un  vetement  malpropre,  de  saisir  jusqu'a  des 
jeux  nationaux  pour  y  mettre  des  grimaces  k  la  place  de  la  gravity  ils 
pourraient  avoir  raison  ;  mais  si  par  hasard  ces  declamateurs  pretendaient 
nous  faire  un  crime  du  d&sir  d'6tudier,  d'observer,  de  philosopher,  comme  les 
Anglais,  ils  auraient  certainement  bien  tort  "  (GLuvres  de  Voltaire,  xliii.,  320). 
In  1771  he  wrote  :  ' '  Vous  savez  que  tous  les  gens  de  lettres  apprennent 
aujourd'hui  l'anglais  "  (id.,  lv.,  519). 

Horace  "Walpole  (Letters,  iv.,  466)  wrote  to  Gray  from  Paris  on  Jan.  25, 
1766  :  "The  generality  of  the  men,  and  more  than  the  generality,  are  dull 
and  empty.  They  have  taken  up  gravity,  thinking  it  was  philosophy  and 
English,  and  so  have  acquired  nothing  in  the  room  of  their  natural  levity  and 
cheerfulness." 

Grimm,  who  visited  England  for  the  first  time  in  1790,  was  full  of  admira- 
tion. He  speaks  of  the  well-kept  fields,  the  green  hedges,  the  villages  with 
their  neat  cottages  and  shops  with  an  air  of  abundance  and  wealth  ;  the 
labouring  class  better  clothed,  housed,  and  fed,  and  steadier  in  their  work 
than  in  France.  In  the  inns  there  is,  it  is  true,  a  want  of  napkins,  and  the 
porter,  small  beer,  and  port  wine,  are  not  to  a  Frenchman's  taste  ;  "  mais  je 
ne  connais  rien  dont  on  se  nourrisse  mieux,  et  dont  on  se  lasse  moins  que  du 
bon  beefsteak,  des  potatoes,  du  royal  plum  pudding,  et  de  l'excellent  f  romage  de 
Chester  ".  London  has  not  nearly  so  many  magnificent  buildings  as  Paris  ; 
but  it  makes  up  for  that  by  the  width,  regularity,  and  cleanliness  of  its 
streets  ;  its  foot  pavements,  and  the  endless  succession  and  variety  of  its 
shops  ;  by  the  general  air  of  comfort,  industry,  and  activity.  The  Thames 
and  the  docks,  with  their, thousands  and  thousands  of  ships  from  all  parts  of 
the  world,  raise  in  the  mind  the  noblest  idea  of  the  audacity,  the  power,  and 
the  success  of  man.  In  the  midst  of  the  vast  population  of  London  there  is 
order  and  tranquillity.  In  Paris,  in  a  single  morning,  you  are  likely  to  come 
across  more  confusion,  more  accidents,  and  more  quarrels  than  in  London  in 
a  fortnight.  Order  is  kept  by  a  small  body  of  constables.  An  Englishman 
submits  to  the  law,  because  he  loves  the  law.  He  has  a  well-grounded  con- 
fidence in  himself.  ' '  Chacun  dans  ce  pays,  depuis  le  premier  lord  jusqu'au 
dernier  coachman,  parait  savoir  plus  prewsgment  que  partout  ailleurs  what  is 
fair  (ce  qui  est  juste)/'  (Grimm's  Mimoires,  &c,  ed.  1814,  vii.,  391). 


28.  GIBBON'S  ASSOCIATES  IN  PARIS  IN  1763  (p.  152). 

(a)  Count  de  Caylus. 

Gibbon  wrote  to  his  father  on  Feb.  24,  1763  :  "  You  know  how  much  I 
always  built  upon  the  Count  de  Caylus  ;  he  has  not  been  of  the  least  use  to 
me.     With  great  difficulty  I  have  seen  him,  and  that  is  all.     I  do  not,  how- 

20 


306  APPENDIX 

ever,  attribute  his  behaviour  to  pride,  or  dislike  to  me,  but  solely  to  the 
man's  general  character,  which  seems  tome  to  be  a  very  odd  one"  (Misc. 
Works,  ii.,  55).     For  its  oddity  see  ib.,  i.,  163. 

(b)  L  Abbe  de  la  Bleterie. 

According  to  Grimm  (Mimoires  historiques,  &c,  iv.,  227),  Bleterie,  though 
at  his  death  he  left  more  than  20,000  francs,  "criait  cependant  toujours 
misere  ".  When  out  supping  one  night,  rain  coming  on,  his  coach  fare  was 
given  him.  "B  mit  les  24  sous  dans  sa  poche,  et  s'en  retourna  chez  lui  a 
pied."     See  also  ante,  p.  9". 

(c)  L'Abbe"  Bab.the'lemy. 

"L'Abb<§  Barthelemy  est  fort  aimable,  et  n'a  de  l'antiquaire  qu'une  tres 
grande  Erudition  "  (Misc.  Works,  i.,  163). 

(d)  L'Abbe'  Raynal. 

Gibbon  wrote  of  Raynal  in  1783  :  "  His  conversation,  which  might  be  very 
agreeable,  is  intolerably  loud,  peremptory,  and  insolent ;  and  you  would 
imagine  that  he  alone  was  the  monarch  and  legislator  of  the  world"  (Corres., 
ii.,  75).  A  year  earlier  Frederick  the  Great  had  written  of  him:  "A  la 
maniere  dont  il  m'a  park*  de  la  puissance,  des  ressources  et  des  richesses  de 
tous  les  peuples  du  globe,  j'ai  cru  m'entretenir  avec  la  Providence  "  (Grimm's 
Corres.,  v.,  390).  "There  never  was  such  an  impertinent  and  tiresome  old 
gossip,"  wrote  Horace  Walpole  of  him  (Letters,  vi.,  444).  Johnson  put  his 
hands  behind  his  back,  when  some  one  brought  up  Raynal  to  introduce  to 
him  (Boswell's  Johnson,  iv.,  435  ;  John.  Misc.,  i.,  211).  Cowper,  after  read- 
ing aloud  to  Mrs.  Unwin  the  five  volumes  of  his  History  of  the  Establish- 
ments, &c,  of  the  Europeans  in  the  Two  Indies,  wrote  :  "  He  is  a  true  patriot, 
but  then  the  world  is  his  country.  ...  If  he  had  not  found  that  religion  had 
undergone  a  mixture  of  artifice,  perhaps  he  would  have  been  a  Christian  " 
(Southey's  Cowper,  xv.,  44).  Romilly,  who  had  read  "the  eloquent  passages 
in  his  work  with  delight,"  records  :  "But  when  I  came  to  talk  on  these  sub- 
jects with  him,  he  appeared  to  me  so  cold  and  so  indifferent  about  them,  that 
I  conceived  a  very  unfavourable  opinion  of  him  "  (Life  of  Romilly,  ed.  1840, 
i.,  70).  For  Gibbon's  praise  of  the  same  book,  see  The  Decline,  ii.,  391.  He 
adds,  however,  that  "the  total  absence  of  quotations  is  the  unpardonable 
blemish  of  his  entertaining  history"  (id.,  ii.,  312).  In  this  Raynal  was  not 
singular.  "  Villaret  quotes  nobody,  according  to  the  last  fashion  of  the 
French  writers"  (ib.,  vii.,  91). 

(e)  L'Abbe  Arnauld. 

"  II  nous  est  tomb6  entre  les  mains,  depuis  peu,  une  reponse  de  M.  l'abbd 
Arnauld  a  je  ne  sais  quelle  prdtendue  denonciation  de  je  ne  sais  quel  pr^tendu 
theologien,  devant  je  ne  sais  quel  pr^tendu  tribunal.  Cette  reponse  m'a  paru 
tres  superieure  a  tous  les  ouvrages  polemiques  de  l'autre  Arnauld  "  (CEuvres 
de  Voltaire,  vii.,  78).  "L'autre  Arnauld''  was  "le  grand  Arnauld,"  the 
Jansenist. 

(f)  De  la  Condamine. 

Gibbon  recorded  in  1764:  "I  read  M.  de  la  Condamine's  Journal  of  his 
Travels  in  Italy.  I  was  pleased  to  find  the  heights  of  several  mountains  in 
fathoms,  measured  by  the  barometer.  They  are  as  follow/'  He  goes  on  to 
make  some  ridiculous  entries  ;  placing  the  Lake  of  Geneva  and  the  top  of  the 
Pyrenees  at  the  same  height  above  sea  level — 1,410  fathoms.     He  copies  also 


APPENDIX  307 

the  heights  of  Mont  Blanc,  and  the  highest  of  the  Andes,  though  neither  had 
been  ascended.  A  few  days  later  he  re-examined  the  Journal,  and  corrected 
some  of  these  mistakes.  The  wonder  is  he  ever  made  them  [Misc.  Works, 
v.,  477,  479). 

(g)  Du  Clos. 

Gibbon  recorded  in  1704  of  Du  Clos's  Consideration  sur  les  Masurs  de  ce 
Siecle:  " The  work  is  in  general  good;  some  chapters  treating  of  the  con- 
nection of  genius  with  character  are  excellent.  Du  Clos,  before  he  was 
Secretary  of  the  Academy,  had  been  that  of  the  Coffee-house  ;  where  he 
carefully  treasured  up  the  conversations  of  men  of  wit"  (Misc.  Works,  v., 
472).  In  a  note  on  Voltaire  (CEuvres,  xii.,  250)  Du  Clos  is  quoted  as  having 
said,  "qu'il  ne  connaissait  rien  de  plus  m^prisable  et  de  plus  mediant  que 
la  canaille  de  la  literature  ". 

(h)  De  Ste  Palaye. 

Horace  Walpole  (Letters,  iv.,  332),  writing  to  Dr.  Warton  of  De  Sade's 
Life  of  Petrarch,  continues:  ""When  you  read  the  notes  to  the  second 
volume,  you  will  grow  very  impatient  for  Mons.  de  Ste  Palaye' s  promised 
history  of  the  Troubadours  ". 

(i)  De  Bougainville. 

Gibbon,  on  Feb.  23,  1763,  mentioned  Bougainville  as  a  man  "que  j'ai 
grande  envie  de  connattre "  (Misc.  Works,  i.,  162).  He  died  the  following 
summer.  Gibbon  writes  of  his  unfinished  Mhnoire  sur  la  Monarchic  des 
Medes :  "La  mort,  qui  l'a  enleve'  a  la  soci^te'  et  aux  lettres,  ne  permet  plus 
d'esp^rance.  Je  me  propose  de  suivre  ses  id6es.  Je  donnerai  quelques  coups 
de  crayon  au  tableau  imparfait  d'un  grand  maitre.  Ce  maitre  6tait  mon 
ami.  Je  goute  un  triste  plaisir  dans  cette  occupation  qui  me  retrace  si  vive- 
ment  tout  ce  qu'il  a  6t6,  et  tout  ce  qu'il  n'est  plus  "  (ib.,  iii.,  58). 

(J)  Capperonnier. 

Capperonnier  was  the  King's  Librarian.  Voltaire,  in  1768,  thanking 
him  for  a  book  he  had  lent  him  from  "  la  Biblioth6que  royale,"  continues 
(CEuvres,  liv.,  491) :  "II  a  6t6  d'un  grand  secours  a  un  pauvre  feu  historio- 
graphe  de  France,  tel  que  moi  ".  Voltaire,  who  was  made  "  historiographe 
de  France  "  in  1745,  was  stripped  of  his  office  in  1750  (ib.,  xlviii.,  100,  328). 

( k)  De  Guiones. 

De  Guignes  was  the  author  of  Histoire  des  Huns.  Gibbon,  referring  to  it 
in  The  Decline,  iii.,  87,  says  :  "He  has  skilfully  traced  the  footsteps  of  the 
Huns  through  the  vast  deserts  of  Tartar}' ' ' .  Voltaire  ( CEuvres,  xxiv. , 
253)  laughs  at  him  "quand  il  fit  descendre  les  Chinois  des  Egyptiens  ;  quand 
il  pr^tendit  que  l'empereur  de  la  Chine  Yu  6tait  visiblement  le  roi  d'Egypte 
M6nes,  en  changeant  ties  en  u,  et  me  enje,"  &c. 

(/)  Suard. 

Ante,  p.  134. 

[fit)  Madame  Geoffrin. 

"  Her  house  is  a  very  good  one  ;  regular  dinners  there  every  Wednesday, 
and  the  best  company  of  Paris,  in  men  of  letters  and  people  of  fashion  " 
(Misc.  Works,  ii.,  54).  "  She  is  an  extraordinary  woman,  with  more  common 
sense  than  I  almost  ever  met  with.   Great  quickness  in  discovering  characters, 


308  APPENDIX 

penetration  in  going  to  the  bottom  of  them,  and  a  pencil  that  never  fails  in  a 
likeness — seldom  a  favourable  one  "  (Walpole's  Letters,  iv.,  466). 

According  to  D'  Haussonville,  her  reception  days  were  Monday  and  "Wed- 
nesday, and  D'Olbach's  Thursday  and  Sunday;  while  Helv^tius  received 
on  Tuesday  and  Madame  Necker  on  Friday  (Le  Salon  de  Madame  Necker,  i., 
121). 

(n)  Madame  du  Boccage. 

She  was  the  lady  who,  when  Johnson  visited  her,  "  would  needs  make  tea 
d  V Anglaise.  The  spout  of  the  teapot  did  not  pour  freely  ;  she  bade  the 
footman  blow  into  it  "  (Boswell's  Johnson,  ii.,  403  ;  see  also  ib.,  iv.,  331,  and 
John.  Misc.,  ii.,  291).  Voltaire  complimented  her  in  verse  on  her  imitation 
of  Paradise  Lost,  and  called  her  la  Sapho  de  Normandie  (CEuvres,  xi.,  307  ; 
xii.,  342;  xlviii.,  167).  Horace  Walpole  wrote  of  it  (Letters,  ii.,  206)  :  "My 
Lord  Chesterfield  prefers  the  copy  to  the  original ;  but  that  is  not  uncommon 
for  him  to  do,  who  is  the  patron  of  bad  authors  and  bad  actors  ". 

(o)  Helvetius. 

"  M.  Helvetius,  the  author  of  the  famous  book  De  V  Esprit,  has  a  very 
pretty  wife,  a  hundred  thousand  livres  a  year,  and  one  of  the  best  tables  in 
Paris.  .  .  .  From  his  heart,  his  head,  and  his  fortune  he  is  a  most  valuable 
man"  (Misc.   Works,  ii.,  53-4). 

"April  5,  1764. — I  was  invited  by  my  Lord  Mansfield  to  dine  with  that 
Helvetius,  but  he  is  a  professed  patron  of  atheism,  a  rascal,  and  a  scoundrel, 
and  I  would  not  countenance  him  "  (Walpole's  Letters,  iv.,  217). 

About  the  time  that  Gibbon  was  writing  his  Memoirs,  Burke  wrote  :  ' '  We 
are  not  the  converts  of  Rousseau  ;  we  are  not  the  disciples  of  Voltaire  ; 
Helvetius  has  made  no  progress  amongst  us.  Atheists  are  not  our  preachers  ; 
madmen  are  not  our  law-givers  "  (Burke's  Works,  ed.  1808,  v.,  166). 

(p)  Le  Baeon  d'Olbach. 

"Le  Baron  a  de  1' esprit  et  des  connaissances,  et  surtout  il  donne  souvent 
et  fort  bien  a  diner"  (Misc.  Works,  i.,  162).  "The  Baron  d'Olbach  is  a  man 
of  parts  and  fortune,  and  has  two  dinners  every  week"  (ib.,  ii.,  54).  "I 
have  left  off  his  dinners,  as  there  was  no  bearing  the  authors,  and  philoso- 
phers, and  savants,  of  which  he  has  a  pigeon-house  full"  (Walpole's  Letters, 
iv.,  449). 

(a)  De  Foncemagne. 

As  to  the  authenticity  of  Le  Testament  politiqtie  attribui  au  Cardinal  de 
Richelieu,  Foncemagne  differed  from  Voltaire,  who,  in  his  reply,  thus 
describes  him  (CEuvres,  xxv.,  367) :  "  Un  acad^micien  connu  de  ses  amis  par 
la  douceur  de  ses  moeurs,  et  du  public  par  ses  lumieres,  a  ecrit  contre  mon 
sentiment.  Son  ouvrage  est  plein  de  cette  sagesse  et  de  cette  politesse  que 
son  titre  annonce."     See  also  ante,  p.  199. 


29.  GIBBON  AMIDST  THE  RUINS  OF  THE  CAPITOL  (p.  167). 

In  the  last  paragraph  of  The  Decline  Gibbon  writes  :  "It  was  among  the 
ruins  of  the  Capitol  that  I  first  conceived  the  idea  of  a  work  which  has 
amused  and  exercised  near  twenty  years  of  my  life  ". 

In  a  brief  essay  dated  "  Rome,  13th  December,  1764,"  he  shows  what  his 
musings  were.     Writing  of  "the  triumphal  show,"  he  says  :   "I  shall  dwell 


APPENDIX  309 

on  one  circumstance  alone,  more  deserving  the  attention  of  a  philosopher, 
because  by  it  this  institution  is  honourably  distinguished  from  those  vain  and 
fatiguing  solemnities  which  create  nothing  but  weariness  or  contempt.  The 
triumph  converted  the  spectators  into  actors,  by  showing  to  them  objects 
great,  real,  and  which  could  not  fail  to  move  their  affections.  .  .  .  The 
ceremonies  of  religion,  when  presented  to  mankind  in  a  venerable  garb, 
ought  powerfully  to  interest  their  affections  ;  but  their  influence  cannot  be 
completely  felt,  unless  the  spectators  have  a  firm  faith  in  the  theological 
system  on  which  they  are  founded  ;  and  unless  they  also  feel  in  themselves 
that  particular  disposition  of  mind  which  lays  it  open  to  religious  terrors. 
Such  ceremonies,  when  they  are  not  viewed  with  respect,  are  beheld  with  the 
contempt  excited  by  the  most  ridiculous  pantomime.  In  the  triumph  every 
circumstance  was  great  and  interesting.  To  receive  its  full  impression,  it 
was  enough  to  be  a  man  and  a  Roman.  With  the  eyes  of  citizens  the  spec- 
tators saw  the  image,  or  rather  the  reality,  of  the  public  glory.  The 
treasures  which  were  carried  in  procession,  the  most  precious  monuments  of 
art,  the  bloody  spoils  of  the  enemy,  exhibited  a  faithful  picture  of  the  war, 
and  illustrated  the  importance  of  the  conquest.  A  silent  but  forcible 
language  instructed  the  Romans  in  the  exploits  and  valour  of  their  country- 
men :  s\*mbols  chosen  with  taste  showed  to  them  the  cities,  rivers, 
mountains,  the  scenes  of  their  national  enterprise,  and  even  the  gods  of  their 
prostrate  enemies  subdued  under  the  majesty  of  Capitoline  Jupiter"  (Misc. 
Works,  iv.,  394). 

In  the  conclusion  of  The  Decline  he  tells  how  "the  footsteps  of  heroes, 
the  relics,  not  of  superstition  but  of  empire,  are  devoutly  visited  by  a  new 
race  of  pilgrims  from  the  remote,  and  once  savage,  countries  of  the  North  ". 
In  an  earlier  passage,  i/>.,  iv.,  74,  after  describing  St.  Simeon  Stylites  among 
"the  monastic  saints  who  excite  only  the  contempt  and  pity  of  a  philoso- 
pher," whose  lives  had  been  written  by  Theodoret,  Gibbon  continues:  "If 
it  be  possible  to  measure  the  interval  between  the  philosophic  writings  of 
Cicero  and  the  sacred  legend  of  Theodoret,  between  the  character  of  Cato 
and  that  of  Simeon,  we  may  appreciate  the  memorable  revolution  which  was 
accomplished  in  the  Roman  Empire  within  a  period  of  five  hundred  years  ". 
His  scorn,  though  veiled,  is  everywhere  to  be  seen.  Writing  of  the  triumph  of 
Heraclius  over  the  Persians  in  a.d.  628,  he  says:  "In  the  recovery  of  the 
standards  and  prisoners  which  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Persians,  the 
emperor  imitated  the  example  of  Augustus  ;  their  care  of  the  national  dignity 
was  celebrated  by  the  poets  of  the  times,  but  the  decay  of  genius  may  be 
measured  by  the  distance  between  Horace  and  George  of  Pisidia :  the  sub- 
jects and  brethren  of  Heraclius  were  redeemed  from  persecution,  slavery, 
and  exile  ;  but  instead  of  the  Roman  eagles,  the  true  wood  of  the  cross  was 
restored  to  the  importunate  demands  of  the  successor  of  Constantine  "  (ib., 
v.,  93). 

See  also  Auto.,  p.  263,  for  "the  contemptuous  look  he  darted  on  the 
stately  monuments  of  superstition  "  at  Paris. 

Sainte-Beuve,  after  quoting  the  passage  in  the  text,  continues:  "  On  le 
voit,  si  une  idee  auguste  et  grandiose  preside  a  1' inspiration  de  Gibbon, 
l'intention  epigrammatique  est  a  cot6  :  il  concoit  l'ancien  ordre  romain,  il  le 
revere,  il  1' admire ;  mais  cet  ordre  non  moins  merveilleux  qui  lui  a  succ£d£ 
avec  les  siecles,  ce  pouvoir  spirituel  ininterrompu  des  vieillards  et  des 
pontifes,  cette  politique  qui  sut  etre  tour  a  tour  intrepide,  imperieuse  et 
superbe,  et  le  plus  souvent  prudente,  il  ne  lui  rendra  pas  justice,  il  n'y 
entrera  pas  :  et  de  temps  en  temps,  dans  la  continuity  de  sa  grave  Histoire,  on 
croira  entendre  revenir  comme  par  contraste  ce  chant  de  vepres  du  premier 
jour,  cette  impression  denigrante  qu'il  ramenera  a  la  sourdine"  (Causeries, 
viii.,  452). 


310  APPENDIX 


30.  HUME  ON  GIBBON'S  COMPOSING   IN  FRENCH  (p.  172). 

Mr.  Hume  seems  to  have  had  a  different  opinion  of  this  work. 

"From  Mr.  Hume  to  Mr.  Gibbon. 

"Sir, 
"It  is  but  a  few  days  since  M.  De.yverdun  put  your  manuscript  into  my 
hands,  and  I  have  perused  it  with  great  pleasure  and  satisfaction.  I  have  only 
one  objection,  derived  from  the  language  in  which  it  is  written.  Why  do  you 
compose  in  French,  and  carry  faggots  into  the  wood,  as  Horace  says  with 
regard  to  the  Romans  who  wrote  in  Greek?  [Sat.,  i.,  x.,  34.]  I  grant  that 
you  have  a  like  motive  to  those  Romans,  and  adopt  a  language  much  more 
generally  diffused  than  your  native  tongue  :  but  have  you  not  remarked  the 
fate  of  those  two  ancient  languages  in  following  ages  ?  The  Latin,  though 
then  less  celebrated,  and  confined  to  more  narrow  limits,  has  in  some  measure 
outlived  the  Greek,  and  is  now  more  generally  understood  by  men  of  letters. 
Let  the  French,  therefore,  triumph  in  the  present  diffusion  of  their  tongue. 
Our  solid  and  increasing  establishments  in  America,  where  we  need  less 
dread  the  inundation  of  Barbarians,  promise  a  superior  stability  and  duration 
to  the  English  language. 

"  Your  use  of  the  French  tongue  has  also  led  you  into  a  style  more  poetical 
and  figurative,  and  more  highly  coloured,  than  our  language  seems  to  admit 
of  in  historical  productions  ;  for  such  is  the  practice  of  French  writers,  par- 
ticularly the  more  recent  ones,  who  illuminate  their  pictures  more  than 
custom  will  permit  us.  On  the  whole,  .your  History,  in  my  opinion,  is 
written  with  spirit  and  judgment ;  and  I  exhort  you  very  earnestly  to  con- 
tinue it.  The  objections  that  occurred  to  me  on  reading  it,  were  so  frivolous, 
that  I  shall  not  trouble  you  with  them,  and  should,  I  believe,  have  a  difficulty 
to  recollect  them. 

"I  am,  with  great  esteem, 
"Sir, 
"  Your  most  obedient 

"  and  most  humble  servant, 

"David  Hume. 
"London, 

"24th  of  Oct.,  1767." 

(Footnote  by  Lord  Sheffield.) 

Pope  wrote  in  171(3 :  "They  [the  ancients]  writ  in  languages  that  became 
universal  and  everlasting,  while  ours  are  extremely  limited  both  in  extent 
and  duration.  A  mighty  foundation  for  our  pride  !  when  the  utmost  we  can 
liope  is  but  to  be  read  in  one  island,  and  to  be  thrown  aside  at  the  end  of  one 
age"  (Warton's  Pope's  Works,  ed.,  1822,  i.,  64). 

Hume  lamented  the  need  he  was  under  of  writing  in  English.  In  1760  he 
wrote:  "It  has  been  my  misfortune  to  write  in  the  language  of  the  most 
stupid  and  factious  barbarians  in  the  world"  {Letters  to  Stratum,  p.  113). 

"We  may  reflect  with  some  pleasure,"  wrote  Gibbon,  "that  the  English 
language  will  probably  be  diffused  over  an  immense  and  populous  continent" 
(The  Decline,  iv.,  166). 


31.  WARBURTON'S  HYPOTHESIS  (p.  179). 

"None  but  the  initiated  could  reveal  the  secret  of  the  mysteries  ;  and  the 
initiated  could  not  reveal  it  without  violating  the  laws  as  well  of  honour  as 
of  religion.  I  sincerely  acquit  the  Bishop  of  Gloucester  of  any  design  ;  yet  so 
unfortunate  is  his  system,  that  it  represents  a  most  virtuous  and  elegant 


APPENDIX  311 

poet  as  equally  devoid  of  taste  and  of  common  honesty.  .  .  .  His  lordship 
maintains  that  after  the  compliment  of  a  formal  apology, 

'  Sit  mihi  fas  audita  loqui '  [vi.,  266], 

Virgil  lays  open  the  whole  secret  of  the  mysteries  under  the  thin  veil  of  an 
allegory,  which  could  deceive  none  but  the  most  careless  readers.  An 
apology  !  an  allegory  !  Such  artifices  might  perhaps  have  saved  him  from 
the  sentence  of  the  Areopagus,  had  some  zealous  or  interested  priest 
denounced  him  to  the  court,  as  guilty  of  publishing  A  Blasphemous  Poem. 
But  the  laws  of  honour  are  more  rigid,  and  yet  more  liberal,  than  those  of 
civil  tribunals.  Sense,  not  words,  is  considered  ;  and  guilt  is  aggravated,  not 
protected,  by  artful  evasions.  Virgil  would  still  have  incurred  the  severe 
censure  of  a  contemporary,  who  was  himself  a  man  of  very  little  religion. 

'  Vetabo  qui  Cereris  sacrum 
Vulgarit  arcance,  sub  iisdem 
Sit  trabibus,  fragilemque  meoum 
Solvat  phaselum.' 

Nor  can  I  easily  persuade  myself  that  the  ingenuous  mind  of  Virgil  could  have 
deserved  this  excommunication"  (Misc.   Works,  iv.,  502). 

There  is  an  allusion  in  this  passage  which,  though  now  obscure,  would 
have  been  understood  by  every  reader.  Seven  years  earlier  the  Bishop  had 
complained  to  the  House  of  Lords  of  a  breach  of  privilege  by  John  Wilkes,  in 
publishing  a  blasphemous  and  obscene  poem  with  notes  bearing  the  name  of 
Dr.  Warburton  (Pari.  Hist.,  xv.,  1346). 

The  quotation  from  Horace  (Odes,  iii.,  2,  26)  is  rendered  by  Francis : — 

"  And  they  who  mysteries  reveal 
Beneath  my  roof  shall  never  live, 
Shall  never  hoist  with  me  the  doubtful  sail ". 


32.  THE  LITERARY  CLUB  (p.  189). 

From  the  mixed,  though  polite,  company  of  Boodle's,  White's,  and 
Brooks's,  I  must  honourably  distinguish  a  weekly  society,  which  was  insti- 
tuted in  the  year  1764,  and  which  still  continues  to  flourish,  under  the  title 
of  the  Literary  Club  (Hawkins's  Life  of  Johnson,  p.  415;  Boswell's  Tour  to 
the  Hebrides,  p.  97  [BosweU's  Johnson,  i.,  477;  v.,  109]).  The  names  of  Dr. 
Johnson,  Mr.  Burke,  Mr.  Topham  Beauclerc,  Mr.  Garrick,  Dr.  Goldsmith, 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  Mr.  Colman,  Sir  William  Jones,  Dr.  Percy,  Mr.  Fox, 
Mr.  Sheridan,  Mr.  Adam  Smith,  Mr.  Steevens,  Mr.  Dunning,  Sir  Joseph 
Banks,  Dr.  Warton,  and  his  brother,  Mr.  Thomas  Warton,  Dr.  Bumey,  &c. , 
form  a  large  and  luminous  constellation  of  British  stars.    (Footnote  by  Gibbon. ) 

Boswell,  whose  luminosity  was  perhaps  invisible  to  Gibbon,  is  passed  over 
in  this  list.  In  a  note  in  The  Tour  to  the  Hebrides,  which  Gibbon  had  read, 
he  describes  how  Paley  "  shewed  in  decent  but  strong  terms,  the  unfairness 
of  the  indirect  attempts  of  modern  infidels  to  unsettle  and  perplex  religious 
principles,  and  particularly  the  irony,  banter,  and  sneer  of  one  whom  he 
politely  calls  'an  eloquent  historian'"  (Boswell's  Johnson,  v.,  203).  In  the 
Life  of  Johnson  (iv.,  73),  also  published  in  Gibbon's  lifetime,  Boswell  writes  : 
"  Johnson  certainly  was  vain  of  the  society  of  ladies,  and  could  make  himself 
very  agreeable  to  them,  when  he  chose  it ;  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  agreed  with 
me  that  he  could.  Mr.  Gibbon,  with  his  usual  sneer,  controverted  it,  perhaps 
in  resentment  of  Johnson's  having  talked  with  some  disgust  of  his  ugliness, 
which  one  would  think  a  philosopher  would  not  mind." 


312  APPENDIX 

In  the  proof-sheet,  after  "Mr.  Gibbon,"  Boswell  had  added,  "the 
historical  writer  and  to  me  offensive  sneerer  at  what  I  hold  sacred,"  but  he 
struck  it  out.  In  the  proof  of  the  index  was  the  entry,  "Gibbon,  the  his- 
torian" ;  it  was  altered  into  "Gibbon,  Edward,  Esq.".  So  early  as  1776  he 
showed  his  dislike  of  him.  In  that  year  he  wrote  to  Temple:  "I  don't 
know  but  you  have  spoken  too  highly  of  Gibbon's  book  ;  the  Dean  of  Deny, 
who  is  of  our  Club  as  well  as  Gibbon,  talks  of  answering  it.  I  think  it  is 
right  that  as  fast  as  infidel  wasps  or  venomous  insects,  whether  creeping  or 
flying,  are  hatched,  they  should  be  crushed.  Murphy  says  he  has  read  thirty 
pages  of  Smith's  Wealth,  but  says  he  shall  read  no  more  :  Smith  too  is  now 
of  our  Club.  It  has  lost  its  select  merit."  In  1779  Boswell  wrote  :  "Gibbon 
is  an  ugly,  affected,  disgusting  fellow,  and  poisons  our  literary  club  to  me  " 
(Letters  of  Boswell,  pp.  232,  242).  Gibbon  was  elected  a  member  on  March  4, 
1774  (Croker's  Boswell,  ed.  1835,  ii.,  326).  A  year  later,  at  one  of  the  Club 
dinners,  the  talk  fell  on  bears.  "  'We  are  told,'  said  Johnson,  'that  the 
black  bear  is  innocent ;  but  I  should  not  like  to  trust  myself  with  him.'  Mr. 
Gibbon  muttered,  in  a  low  tone  of  voice,  '  I  should  not  like  to  trust  myself 
with  you'.  This  piece  of  sarcastic  pleasantry  was  a  prudent  resolution,  if 
applied  to  a  competition  of  abilities  "  (Boswell' s  Johnson,  ii.,  348). 

Gibbon  had  at  Lausanne  an  engraving,  by  Hall,  of  Reynolds's  portrait  of 
Johnson  (Read's  Hist.  Studies,  ii.,  479). 

In  the  first  three  volumes  (quarto)  of  The  Decline,  published  in  Johnson's 
lifetime,  his  name  is  only  once  mentioned.  "Dr.  Johnson  affirms  that  feiv 
English  words  are  of  British  extraction.  Mr.  Vhitaker,  who  understands 
the  British  language,  has  discovered  more  than  three  thousand'1''  (iv.,  153). 
He  is  perhaps  aimed  at  in  vol.  iii. ,  p.  237,  where  the  quotation  from 
Claudian — 

' '  Nunquam  libertas  gratior  exstat 
Quam  sub  rege  pio" 

is  introduced  as  "the  famous  sentence  so  familiar  to  the  friends  of  despot- 
ism". It  was  the  motto  to  Johnson's  Political  Tracts,  published  in  1776.  It 
was  the  motto  also  to  Filmer's  Patriarcha,  and  to  Dry  den's  History  of  the 
league. 

In  the  last  half  of  The  Decline  Johnson  is  attacked  in  the  following  notes  : 
"  If  the  reader  will  turn  to  the  first  scene  of  the  first  part  of  Henry  IV.,  he 
will  see  in  the  text  of  Shakespeare  the  natural  feelings  of  enthusiasm  ;  and  in 
the  notes  of  Dr.  Johnson  the  workings  of  a  bigoted,  though  vigorous,  mind, 
greedy  of  every  pretence  to  hate  and  persecute  those  who  dissent  from  his 
creed"  (vi.,  266).  Johnson's  note  (there  is  but  one)  is  as  follows  :  "The  law- 
fulness and  justice  of  the  holy  wars  have  been  much  disputed,  but  perhaps 
there  is  a  principle  on  which  the  question  may  be  easily  determined.  If  it  be 
part  of  the  religion  of  the  Mahometans  to  extirpate  by  the  sword  all  other 
religions,  it  is,  by  the  law  of  self-defence,  lawful  for  men  of  every  other 
religion,  and  for  Christians  among  others,  to  make  war  upon  Mahometans, 
simply  as  Mahometans,  as  men  obliged  by  their  own  principles  to  make  war 
upon  Christians,  and  only  lying  in  wait  till  opportunity  shall  promise  them 
success." 

In  The  Rambler,  No.  122,  Johnson  says  of  English  historians  :  "  None  of 
our  writers  can,  in  my  opinion,  justly  contest  the  superiority  of  Knolles,  who, 
in  his  history  of  the  Turks,  has  displayed  all  the  excellencies  that  narration 
can  admit  ".  On  this  Gibbon  remarks  :  "In  one  of  the  Ramblers,  Dr.  Johnson 
praises  Knolles  as  the  first  of  historians,  unhappy  only  in  the  choice  of  his 
subject.  Yet  I  much  doubt  whether  a  partial  and  verbose  compilation  from 
Latin  writers,  thirteen  hundred  folio  pages  of  speeches  and  battles,  can  either 
instruct  or  amuse  an  enlightened  age,  which  requires  from  the  historian  some 
tincture  of  philosophy  and  criticism  ' '  ( The  Decline,  vii. ,  24).  For  England's 
barrenness   of  historians  when  Johnson  wrote  see  ante,  p.  122.      "All  the 


APPENDIX  313 

colouring,  all  the  philosophy  of  history,"  he  later  on  said,  "  is  conjecture" 
(Boswell's  Johnson,  ii.,  365). 

Gibbon,  speaking  of  Mahomet  II.,  says:  "His  menaces  were  expressed  in 
the  Oriental  style,  that  the  fugitives  and  deserters,  had  they  the  wings  of  a 
bird,  should  not  escape  from  his  inexorable  justice  ".  In  a  note  he  goes  out 
of  the  way  to  attack  "  the  extravagance  of  the  rant  "  in  a  passage  in  John- 
son's Irene,  where  "Mahomet's  passion  soars  above  sense  and  reason"  (T/ie 
Decline,  vii.,  187). 

On  the  other  hand,  he  quotes  with  approval  four  lines  from  the  same  play 
{ii.,  vii.,  171).  See  also  id.,  vi.,  213,  for  some  words  in  a  "sublime  inscrip- 
tion" at  which  "a  critique  of  high  renown  (the  late  Dr.  Johnson)  might 
cavil  ".  I  do  not  believe  that  Gibbon  would  have  ventured  to  publish  these 
notes  when  Johnson  was  living.  He  was  one  of  those  who  signed  the  Round 
Robin  to  Johnson,  that  day  at  Reynolds's  table,  when  "the  question  was 
who  should  have  the  courage  to  propose"  to  the  Doctor  the  alterations  in 
Goldsmith's  epitaph  (Boswell's  Johnson,  iii.,  83). 

He  mentioned  the  Club  to  Garrick  in  a  letter  written  from  Paris  on  Aug. 
14,  1777  :  "At  this  time  of  year  the  society  of  the  Turk's-head  can  no 
longer  be  addressed  as  a  corporate  body,  and  most  of  the  individual  members 
are  probably  dispersed  :  Adam  Smith  in  Scotland  ;  Burke  in  the  shades  of 
Beaconsfield  ;  Fox,  the  Lord  or  the  devil  knows  where,  &c.  Be  so  good  as  to 
salute  in  my  name  those  friends  who  may  fall  in  your  way.  Assure  Sir 
Joshua,  in  particular,  that  I  have  not  lost  my  relish  for  manly  conversation 
and  the  society  of  the  brown  table  "  (Garrick  Corres.,  ii.,  256). 

Tennyson,  who  was  elected  a  member  of  the  club  in  1865,  was  told  by  the 
Duke  of  Argyll  that  "the  form  of  intimation  was  drawn  up  as  a  joke  by 
Gibbon,  and  has  been  adhered  to  ever  since".  It  is  as  follows:  "  I  have  to 
intimate  to  you  that  you  have  had  the  honour  of  being  elected  a  member  of 
'The  Club'  ".  Tennyson  had  written  previously  that  he  had  never  heard  of 
"  The  Club  "  (Life  of  Tennyson,  ii.,  20).  For  the  elections  of  Macaulay  and 
Grote  see  Johnsonian  Miscellanies,  i.,  229. 

If  Gibbon  in  this  jocular  intimation  described  the  club  as  "The  Club," 
we  find  him  in  the  above  note  calling  it  "The  Literary  Club,"  as  Boswell 
also  often  called  it  (Boswell's  Johnson,  i.,  477  ;  iv..  326 ;  "v.,  109,  n.  5). 

Gibbon  described  "authors,  managers,  &c,"  as  " good  company  to  know, 
but  not  to  live  with  "  (Corres.,  i.,  201). 


33.  LISKEARD  (p.  191). 

Gibbon  was  elected  member  for  Liskeard  in  the  autumn  of  1774.  He  had 
visited  Eliot  at  Port  Eliot  in  Sept.,  1773.  "Our  civil  landlord,"  he  wrote, 
possesses  neither  a  pack  of  hounds,  nor  a  stable  of  running  horses,  nor  a 
large  farm,  nor  a  good  library"  (Corres.,  i.,  194).  Miss  Burney,  in  1781, 
described  Eliot  as  "a  most  agreeable,  lively,  and  very  clever  man"  (Mme. 
D;Arblay's  Diary,  ed.  1842,  ii.,  13). 

Jeremy  Bentham  wrote  in  August,  1781:  "Eliot  is  knight  of  the  shire 
[member  of  parliament  for  the  county],  and  puts  in  seven  borough  members 
for  Cornwall"  (Bentham's  Works,  ■£.,  97). 

Liskeard,  or  Leskeard  as  it  was  often  written,  was  distinguished  by  many 
eminent  representatives — Sir  Edward  Coke  in  the  seventeenth  century  : 
Gibbon  in  the  eighteenth ;  "William  Huskisson,  Charles  Buller,  Bernal 
Osborne,  Edward  Horsman  ("the  superior  person  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons"), and  Leonard  H.  Courtney.  Philip  Stanhope,  to  whom  Lord 
Chesterfield  wrote  his  Letters,  was  member  from  1754  to  1761.  "Mr.  Eliot," 
Chesterfield  wrote  (Letters,  iv.,  58),  "has,  in  the  most  friendly  manner 
imaginable,  fixed  you  at  his  own  borough  of  Liskeard,  where  you  will  be 
elected,  jointly  with  him,  without  the  least  opposition  or  difficulty."     Eliot, 


314  APPENDIX 

however,  was  elected  at  St.  Germains.  From  1768  to  1784  Samuel  Salt  was 
one  of  the  members,  that  old  Bencher  of  the  Inner  Temple  "of  pensive 
gentility,"  who  lives  in  the  Essays  of  Ella.  He  must  have  been  accounted 
worthy  even  of  Liskeard,  for  "it  was  incredible  what  repute  for  talents  he 
enjoyed  by  the  mere  trick  of  gravity  ". 

By  the  last  Reform  Bill  this  interesting  borough  was  lost  in  one  of  the 
county  divisions  of  Cornwall.  It  surely,  and  not  Bodmin,  should  have  given 
the  name  to  the  district.  Who  cares  for  Bodmin  ?  For  an  account  of  this 
ancient  borough,  see  W.  P.  Courtney's  Parliamentary  Representatives  of 
Cornwall  to  1832,  p.  251. 

34.  GIBBON'S  "SILENT  AND  SINCERE  VOTES"  (p.  191). 

We  may  well  be  astonished  at  the  word  "perhaps"  in  the  test,  when 
these  "silent  and  sincere  votes"  helped  to  set  England  at  war,  not  only 
with  her  thirteen  colonies,  but  also  with  the  three  chief  naval  powers.of  the 
Continent  of  Europe— France,  Spain,  and  Holland. 

According  to  Gibbon's  own  estimate  {The  Decline,  i.,  42)  it  was  a  struggle 
between  eight  millions  of  people  on  one  side  and  thirty-two  millions  on  the 
other  side.  There  were  certainly  more  than  8,000,000  in  the  British  Isles. 
In  1801  there  were  nearly  11,000,000  in  Great  Britain  alone  {Penny  Cyclo., 
xi.,  414).  The  population  of  the  other  countries  was  probably  under-esti- 
mated also,  so  that  the  disproportion  of  the  opposing  powers  may  be  correctly 
given.  Moreover,  the  eight  millions  were  not  united.  Ireland  was  dis- 
affected—Protestants as  well  as  Catholics— and  in  1779  a  rebellion  was  on  the 
point  of  breaking  out.  So  incredibly  weak  was  the  Government  that  for  some 
days  in  June,  1780,  London  was  scared  by  a  mob  which  burnt  down  the  very 
prisons.  Of  the  Ministry  Johnson  said,  "  such  a  bunch  of  imbecility  never 
disgraced  a  country  "  {BoswelY s  Johnson,  iv.,  139).  He  was  one  of  the  least 
despondent  of  men  so  far  as  the  outside  world  was  concerned.  Nevertheless, 
on  Aug.  4,  1782,  he  wrote :  "Perhaps  no  nation  not  absolutely  conquered  has 
declined  so  much  in  so  short  a  time.  We  seem  to  be  sinking"  {Letters  of 
Johnson,  ii.,  264).  On  Jan.  21,  1783,  he  wrote  :  "lam  afraid  of  a  civil  war 
lib.,  p.  286).  The  National  Debt  was  raised  by  the  war  from  129  to  268 
millions  {Penny  Cyclo.,  xvi.,  100).  At  present  it  amounts  to  £15  a  head 
(Whitaker's  Almanack,  1899,  p.  185).  In  these  few  years  of  warfare,  taking 
Gibbon's  estimate  of  population  as  correct,  it  was  increased  by  £16  a  head. 

He  might  have  learnt  wisdom  from  his  friend  David  Hume,  who  wrote  on 
Oct.  26,  1775  :  "  Arbitrary  power  can  extend  its  oppressive  arm  to  the  Anti- 
podes ;  but  a  limited  government  can  never  long  be  upheld  at  a  distance, 
even  where  no  disgusts  have  intervened  ;  much  less  where  such  violent 
animosities  have  taken  place.  We  must  therefore  annul  all  the  charters  ; 
abolish  every  democratical  power  in  every  colony  ;  repeal  the  Habeas  Corpus 
Act  with  regard  to  them  ;  invest  every  governor  with  full  discretionary  or 
arbitrary  powers  ;  confiscate  the  estates  of  all  the  chief  planters,  and  hang 
three-fourths  of  their  clergy.  To  execute  such  acts  of  destructive  violence 
twenty  thousand  men  will  not  be  sufficient ;  nor  thirty  thousand  to  maintain 
them,  in  so  wide  and  disjointed  a  territory.  And  who  are  to  pay  so  great  an 
army  ?  The  Colonists  cannot  at  any  time,  much  less  after  reducing  them  to 
such  a  state  of  desolation  :  we  ought  not,  and  indeed  cannot,  in  the  over- 
loaded, or  rather  overwhelmed  and  totally  ruined  state  of  our  finances.  Let 
us  therefore  lay  aside  all  anger,  shake  hands  and  part  friends.  Or,  if  we 
retain  any  anger,  let  it  only  be  against  ourselves  for  our  past  folly  ;  and 
against  that  wicked  madman,  Pitt,  who  has  reduced  us  to  our  present  con- 
dition.    Dixi"  {Letters  of  Hume  to  Strahan,  p.  289). 

On  April  25,  1781,  Horace  Walpole  wrote  {Letters,  viii.,  30)  :   "Unfortun- 
ately Dr.  Franklin  was  a  truer  politician,  when  he  said  he  would  furnish  Mr. 


APPENDIX  315 

Gibbon  with  materials  for  writing  the  History  of  the  Decline  of  the  British 
Empire". 

The  younger  Pitt  on  June  12,  1781,  described  the  war  as  "  most  accursed, 
wicked,  barbarous,  cruel,  unnatural,  unjust,  and  diabolical"  (Stanhope's 
Pitt,  ed.  1861,  i.,  61). 

In  The  Decline,  vi.,  408,  Gibbon  wrote  justly  of  war:  "In  the  miserable 
account  of  war  the  gain  is  never  equivalent  to  the  loss,  the  pleasure  to  the 
pain  ".  In  another  passage,  in  which  he  describes  the  seven  appearances  of  a 
comet  at  intervals  of  575  years,  he  perhaps  shows  how  little  he  foresaw  the 
rapid  advance  of  America.  "  At  the  eighth  period,  in  the  year  2255,  their 
calculations  may  perhaps  be  verified  by  the  astronomers  of  some  future 
capital  in  the  Siberian  or  American  wilderness"  (id.,  iv. ,  434).  See  post, 
p.  324,  for  doubts  cast  on  Gibbon's  sincerity. 


35.  THE  PUBLICATION  OF  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL  (p.  195). 

The  book  was  published  on  Feb.  17,  1776  (Carres.,  i.,  279).  "  The  volume," 
Gibbon  wrote,  ' '  a  handsome  quarto,  costs  one  guinea  unbound  ;  it  sold, 
according  to  the  expression  of  the  publisher,  like  a  threepenny  pamphlet  on 
the  affairs  of  the  day"  (Read's  Hist.  Studies,  ii.,  387).  The  day  after  publi- 
cation Horace  "Walpole  wrote  (Letters,  vi.,  310)  :  "  Lo,  there  is  just  appeared 
a  truly  classic  work  ;  a  history,  not  majestic  like  Livy,  nor  compressed  like 
Tacitus  ;  not  stamped  with  character  like  Clarendon  ;  perhaps  not  so  deep  as 
Robertson's  Scotland,  but  a  thousand  degrees  above  his  Charles  ;  not  pointed 
like  Voltaire,  but  as  accurate  as  he  is  inexact ;  modest  as  he  is  tranchant,  and 
sly  as  Montesquieu,  without  being  so  recherche".  The  style  is  as  smooth  as  a 
Flemish  picture,  and  the  muscles  are  concealed  and  only  for  natural  uses,  not 
exaggerated  like  Michael  Angelo's  to  show  the  painter's  skill  in  anatomy ; 
nor  composed  of  the  limbs  of  clowns  of  different  nations  like  Dr.  Johnson's 
heterogeneous  monsters." 

By  March  26  1,000  copies  were  sold.  Of  the  second  edition  of  1,500  copies, 
published  on  June  3,  700  were  gone  by  June  6.  In  March,  1777,  a  third 
edition,  also  in  quarto,  of  1,000  copies,  was  printing  (Corres.,  i.,  280,  285,  304). 
The  estimated  profit  on  this  edition  was  £490,  of  which  Gibbon's  two-third 
share  was  £326  13s.  4d.  (Misc.  Works,  ii. ,  167).  The  second  half  of  the  book 
would  be  worth,  he  estimated,  £3,000  (Corres.,  ii.,  126).  I  infer  that  it  pro- 
duced £4,000  ;  for  Lord  Sheffield,  in  publishing  Gibbon's  letter,  changed  £3,000 
into  "  about  £4,000  "  (Misc.  Works,  ii.,  377). 

For  the  copyright  of  Gibbon's  Miscellaneous  Works  John  Murray,  in  1812, 
paid  Lord  Sheffield,  as  the  historian's  executor,  £1,000  (Memoirs  of  John 
Murray,  i.,  236). 


36.  OSSIAN  (p.  197). 

"  Something  of  a  doubtful  mist  still  hangs  over  these  Highland  traditions, 
nor  can  it  be  entirely  dispelled  by  the  most  ingenious  researches  of  modern 
criticism"  (The  Decline,  i.,  128). 

"  Ossian,  the  son  of  Fingal,  is  said  to  have  disputed  in  his  extreme  old 
age  with  one  of  the  foreign  missionaries,  and  the  dispute  is  still  extant  in 
verse,  and  in  the  Erse  language.  See  Mr.  Macpherson's  Dissertations  on  the 
Antiquity  of  Ossian' s  Poems,  p.  10"  (id.,  ii.,  64). 

In  spite  of  Hume's  warning,  we  find  Gibbon  writing  in  a  later  volume  : 
"  In  the  dark  and  doubtful  paths  of  Caledonian  antiquity  I  have  chosen  for 
my  guides  two  learned  and  ingenious  Highlanders".  One  of  the  two  was 
James  Macpherson,  to  whose  History  of  Great  Britain  he  refers  (id.,  iii.,  40). 


316  APPENDIX 

Ossian  Gibbon  describes  as  "  a  conjectural  supplement  to  the  Erse  poetry' 
(ib.,  p.  43).  In  the  text  he  speaks  of  "the  generous  humanity  which  seems 
to  inspire  the  songs  of  Ossian  "  {ib.,  p.  44).  In  vi. ,  230,  he  seems  to  sneer  at 
Ossian,  where,  after  quoting  a  bombastic  translation  from  Dow's  History  of 
Hindostan,  he  adds  :  "I  suspect  that  by  some  odd  fatality  the  style  of 
Ferishta  has  been  improved  by  that  of  Ossian  ". 

It  is  not  impossible  that  Gibbon  wished  to  keep  well  with  Macpherson, 
who,  if  we  can  trust  what  Horace  Walpole  wrote  in  February,  1776,  "had  a 
pension  of  £600  a  year  from  the  Court  to  supervise  the  newspapers".  In 
1781  this  pension  was  £800  (Journal  of  the  Reign  of  George  III.,  ii. ,  17,  483  ; 
see  also  The  Kolliad  and  Probationary  Odes,  ed.  1799,  p-  458). 

Hume  at  first  believed  in  the  poems  of  Ossian  ;  though  after  ' '  often  hear- 
ing them  totally  rejected  with  disdain  and  indignation,  as  a  palpable  and 
most  impudent  forgery,"  by  many  of  "the  men  of  letters  in  London,"  he 
too  rejected  them  (Letters  to  Strahan,  pp.  35-38).  A  year  before  Gibbon 
quoted  Ossian,  Johnson,  in  his  Journey  to  the  Western  Islands,  had  exposed 
the  fraud.  "If  we  know  little  of  the  ancient  Highlanders,"  he  wrote,  "let 
us  not  fill  the  vacuity  with  Ossian.  If  we  have  not  searched  the  Magel- 
lanick  regions,  let  us,  however,  forbear  to  people  them  with  Patagons " 
(Johnson's  Works,  ix.,  116  ;  see  also  Boswell's  Johnson,  ii.,  297-303,  309  ;  iv., 
183). 


37.  FRENCH  SOCIETY  (p.  199). 

Gibbon  wrote  from  Paris  in  1763  :  "  We  may  say  what  we  please  of  the 
frivolity  of  the  French,  but  I  do  assure  you  that  in  a  fortnight  passed  at  Paris 
I  have  heard  more  conversation  worth  remembering,  and  seen  more  men  of 
letters  among  the  people  of  fashion,  than  I  had  done  in  two  or  three  winters 
in  London"   (Corres.,  i.,  29). 

Johnson,  who  spent  some  weeks  in  Paris  in  the  autumn  of  1775,  but  who 
was  only  "just  beginning  to  creep  into  acquaintance"  when  he  left,  said  on 
April  9,  1778,  at  Reynolds's  table,  in  Gibbon's  presence:  "I  question  if  in 
Paris  such  a  company  as  is  sitting  round  this  table  coidd  be  got  together  in 
less  than  half  a  year  "  (Boswell's  Johnson,  ii.,  401 ;  iii.,  253). 

Miss  Edgeworth,  who,  in  more  than  one  visit  to  Paris,  had  seen  some  of 
the  best  French  society,  wrote  in  1822:  "The  great  variety  of  society  in 
London,  and  the  solidity  of  the  sense  and  information  to  be  gathered  from 
conversation,  strike  me  as  far  superior  to  Parisian  society  "  (Life  and  Letters 
of  Maria  Edgeworth,  ii.,  77). 

Mme.  du  Deffand  thus  described  Gibbon  on  May  27,  1777  :  "  Je  lui  crois 
beaucoup  d'esprit,  sa  conversation  est  facile,  et  forte  de  choses,  comme  disait 
Fontenelle".  After  reading  some  of  the  translation  of  The  Decline,  she 
continued  :  "  Je  trouve  l'auteur  assez  aimable,  mais  il  a,  si  je  ne  me  trompe, 
une  grande  ambition  de  c616brit6,  il  brigue  a  force  ouverte  la  faveur  de  nos 
beaux  esprits,  et  il  me  parait  qu'il  se  trompe  souvent  aux  jugemens  qu'il  en 
porte ;  dans  la  conversation  il  veut  briller  et  prendre  le  ton  qu'  il  croit  le 
notre,  et  il  y  r^ussit  assez  bien  ".  On  Sept.  21  she  wrote  :  "M.  Gibbon  a  ici 
le  plus  grand  succes,  on  se  l'arrache,  il  se  conduit  tres  bien,  et  sans  avoir,  je 
crois,  autant  d'esprit  que  feu  M.  Hume,  il  ne  tombe  pas  dans  les  memes 
ridicules.  ...  II  se  comporte  avec  tout  le  monde  d'une  maniere  qui  ne 
donne  point  de  prise  aux  ridicules  ;  ce  qui  est  fort  difficile  a  eViter  dans  les 
soci£t£s  qu'il  frequente."  On  Oct.  26  she  added  :  "  II  fait  trop  de  cas  de  nos 
agremens,  trop  de  d6sir  de  les  acquerir  ;  j'ai  toujours  eu  sur  le  bout  de  la  langue 
de  lui  dire  :  ne  vous  tourmentez  pas,  vous  meritez  l'honneur  d'etre  Francais" 
(Lettres  de  La  Marquise  du  Deffa?id  d  Monsieur  Walpole,  London,  1810,  iii., 
265,  287,  295,  301). 


APPENDIX  317 

38.  L'ABBE  DE  MABLY  (p.  199). 

(x.) 

Of  the  voluminous  writings  of  the  Abb6  de  Mably  (see  his  Eloge  by  the 
Abbe  Brizard),  the  Principes  du  droit  public  de  I' Europe,  and  the  first  part  of 
the  Observations  sur  C  Histoire  de  France,  may  be  deservedly  praised  ;  and 
even  the  Maniere  cCtcrire  VHistoire  contains  several  useful  precepts  and 
judicious  remarks.  Mably  was  a  lover  of  virtue  and  freedom  ;  but  his  virtue 
was  austere,  and  his  freedom  was  impatient  of  an  equal.  Kings,  magistrates, 
nobles,  and  successful  writers  were  the  objects  of  his  contempt,  or  hatred,  or 
envy  ;  but  his  illiberal  abuse  of  Voltaire,  Hume,  Buffon,  the  Abb6  Raynal, 
Dr.  Robertson,  and  tutti  quanti  can  be  injurious  only  to  himself  (Footnote  bv 
Gibbon). 

Gibbon  praises  him  in  The  Decline  :  "  The  brilliant  imagination  of  Montes- 
quieu is  corrected  by  the  dry  cold  reason  of  the  Abbe'  de  Mably"  (i., 
227).  "His  accurate  distinction  of  times  gives  him  a  merit  to  which  even 
Montesquieu  is  a  stranger"  (ib.,  iv.,  131).  In  an  early  Essay  entitled  Du 
Gouvernement  Fe'odal,  he  says  of  these  two  writers  :  "Ces  hommes  celebres 
ont  ouvert  la  carriere  ;  je  les  suis  en  tremblant  "  (Misc.  Works,  iii.,  183).  A 
little  later  he  wrote  of  Mably  that  he  "  had  never  been  able  to  discover  in  his 
works  anything  but  common-place  "  (ib.,  v.,  406).  To  Dr.  Robertson  he  wrote 
in  1783  :  ' '  The  Abb<5  appears  to  hate,  and  affects  to  despise  every  writer  of 
his  own  times  who  has  been  well  received  by  the  public  '  (Stewart's  Robert- 
son, p.  365  ;  see  also  ante,  p.  224,  «.). 

Voltaire  was  described  by  him  as  "  un  homme  qui  ne  voyait  pas  au  bout 
de  son  nez"  (Mt'moires,  £fc,  de  Grimm,  v.,  412). 

(n.) 

"  Est-il  rien  de  plus  fastidieux  (says  the  polite  Censor)  qu'un  M.  Guibbon, 
qui,  dans  son  6ternelle  Histoire  des  Empereurs  Romains,  suspend  a  chaque 
instant  son  insipide  et  lente  narration,  pour  vous  expliquer  la  cause  [les 
causes]  des  faits  que  vous  allez  lire?"  (Maniere  d't'crire  l' Histoire,  p.  184; 
see  another  passage,  p.  280. )  Yet  I  am  indebted  to  the  Abbe  de  Mably  for 
two  such  advocates  as  the  Anonymous  French  Critic  and  my  friend  Mr. 
Hayley  (Hayley's  Works,  8vo  edit.,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  261-263)  (Footnote  by  Gibbon). 
The  "other  passage"  is  as  follows:  "Vous  voyez  des  historiens,  par 
exemple  M.  Guibbon,  qui  s'empetrent  dans  leur  sujet,  ne  saventni  l'entamer 
ni  le  finir,  et  tournent,  pour  ainsi  dire,  toujours  sur  eux-memes  ". 

For  Hayley  see  ante,  pp.  180,  230.  Gibbon  was  to  have  a  far  greater  ad- 
vocate than  this  poetaster.  Sainte-Beuve  thus  concludes  his  criticism  of  the 
Essai  sur  V Etude  de  la  Littirature  (ante,  p.  127):  "En  un  mot  on  trouve 
partout  dans  cet  Essai  l'avant-gout  de  cet  esprit  de  critique  qui  sera  tout 
l'oppos6  de  la  methode  roide  et  tranchante  d'un  Mably"  (Causeries,  viii.,  448). 


39.  GIBBON'S  ANTAGONISTS— DAVIES,  CHELSUM,  WATSON, 
APTHORPE,  TAYLOR,  MILNER,  PRIESTLEY,  AND  WHITE  (p.  202). 

(a)  Henry  Edward  Davies. 

He  published  in  1778,  An  Examination  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  chapters 
of  Mr.  Gibbon's  History  of  the  Decline,  &c,  in  which  his  View  of  the  progress  of 
the  Christian  religion  is  shewn  to  be  founded  on  the  misrepresentation  of  the 
authors  he  cites,  and  .  .  .  instances  of  his  inaccuracy  and  plagiarism  are  pro- 
duced. Davies  was  only  one-and-twenty  when  he  attacked  Gibbon.  He 
became  Fellow  and  Tutor  of  Balliol  College,   and  died  in  1784.     Of  the 


318  APPENDIX 

"  royal  pension  "  which  Gibbon  "  enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  giving  to  him,"  I 
am  informed  that  "no  trace  can  be  found  in  spite  of  an  exhaustive  research 
in  the  Treasury  Records  ". 

(b)  Dr.  James  Chelsum. 

He  published  in  1776  Remarks  on  the  two  last  chapters  of  Mr.  Gibbon's 
History,  he.  "Dr.  Chelsum,"  Gibbon  wrote,  "is  unwilling  that  the  world 
should  forget  that  he  was  the  first  who  sounded  to  arms,  that  he  was  the  first 
who  furnished  the  antidote  to  the  poison"  {Misc.  Works,  iv.,  602).  If  "poor 
Chelsum  was  neglected, "  nevertheless  he  had  a  fair  share  of  the  good  things 
of  the  Church.  According  to  the  Diet.  Nat.  Biog. ,  he  held  three  benefices  in 
as  many  counties,  and,  moreover,  was  chaplain  to  two  Bishops  and  was  one  of 
the  Preachers  at  Whitehall. 

(c)  Dr.   Richard  Watson. 

He  published  in  1776  An  Apology  for  Christianity  in  a  Series  of  Letters  to 
Edward  Gibbon,  Esq.  In  1782  he  was  made  Bishop  of  Llandaff  on  the  recom- 
mendation of  Lord  Shelburne,  "  who  (writes  Watson)  had  erroneously  enter- 
tained the  opinion  that  I  was  a  warm,  and  might  become  an  useful  partisan  " 
(Life  of  Watson,  ed.  1818,  i.,  153).  "My  answer  to  Gibbon,"  he  says,  "  had 
a  great  run"  (id.,  p.  98).  Gibbon  described  it  as  "civil,  but  too  dull  to 
deserve  notice"  (Corres.,  i.,  295).  For  Watson's  friendly  correspondence 
with  him  see  Misc.  Works,  ii.,  180,  227.  In  The  Decline,  vi.,  10,  the  Bishop's 
Chemical  Essays  are  styled  "  a  classic  book".  For  his  neglect  of  his  diocese, 
see  John.  Misc.,  ii.,  199. 

Not  only  Davies,  but  also  his  allies  in  this  attack,  "the  two  confederate 
Doctors,"  Chelsum  and  Randolph,  were  of  Oxford.  " Oppressed  with  the 
same  yoke,  covered  with  the  same  trappings,  they  heavily  move  along, 
perhaps  not  with  an  equal  pace,  in  the  same  beaten  track  of  prejudice  and 
preferment "  (Misc.  Works,  iv.,  603).  To  Oxford  also  belonged  Dr.  White. 
This,  no  doubt,  increased  Gibbon's  dislike  of  that  university.  Watson  be- 
longed to  Cambridge.  "There  is  much  less  difference,"  Gibbon  wrote, 
"  between  the  smoothness  of  the  Ionic  and  the  roughness  of  the  Doric  dialect 
than  may  be  found  between  the  polished  style  of  Dr.  Watson  and  the  coarse 
language  of  Mr.  Davies,  Dr.  Chelsum,  or  Dr.  Randolph  "  (Misc.  Works, 
iv.,  602). 

(d)  Dr.  East  Apthorpe. 

He  was  the  son  of  a  merchant  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  and  was  Vicar  of 
Croydon.  "Early  in  1778  he  published  Letters  on  the  Prevalence  of 
Christianity  before  its  Civil  Establishment ;  ivith  Observations  on  the  late 
History  of  the  Decline  of  the  Roman  Empire.  In  February  of  the  same  year 
he  was  collated  by  Archbishop  Cornwallis  to  the  rectory  of  St.  Mary-le-Bow  " 
(Nichols's  Lit.  Anec,  iii.,  94  ;  see  Misc.  Works,  iv.,  596). 

(e)  Henry  Taylor. 

The  stupendous  title,  Thoughts  on  the  Causes  of  the  Grand  Apostacy,  at 
first  agitated  my  nerves,  till  I  discovered  that  it  was  the  apostacy  of  the  whole 
church,  since  the  Council  of  Nice,  from  Mr.  Taylor's  private  religion.  His 
book  is  a  thorough  mixture  of  high  enthusiasm  and  low  buffoonery,  and  the 
Millennium  is  a  fundamental  article  of  his  creed  (Footnote  by  Gibbon). 

He  was  Rector  of  Crawley  and  Vicar  of  Portsmouth.  In  1781  he  published 
Thoughts  on  the  Causes  of  the  Grand  Apostacy,  with  Reflections  and  Observa- 
tions on  tlie  XVth  Chapter  of  Mr.  Gibbon's  History,  &c. 


APPENDIX  319 

(/)  Joseph  Milner. 

From  his  grammar  school  at  Kingston-upon-Hull,  Mr.  Joseph  Milner 
pronounces  an  anathema  against  all  rational  religion.  His  faith  is  a  divine 
taste,  a  spiritual  inspiration  ;  his  church  is  a  mystic  and  invisible  body  ;  the 
natural  Christians,  such  as  Mr.  Locke,  who  believe  and  interpret  the  Scriptures, 
are,  in  his  judgment,  no  better  than  profane  infidels  (Footnote  by  Gibbon). 

He  published  in  1781  Gibbon  s  Account  of  Christianity  considered  ;  together 
with  some  Strictures  on  Hume's  Dialogues  concerning  Natural  Religion.  "  On 
the  margin  of  the  passage  in  Milner's  History  of  the  Church,  where  Basil  says 
of  Gregory  Thaumaturgus  (in  whose  miraculous  powers  Milner  devoutly 
believed),  'He  never  allowed  himself  to  call  his  Brother  fool,'  Macaulay 
wrote,  '  He  never  knew  such  a  fool  as  Milner  then  '  "  (Trevelyan's  Macau/ay, 
ed.  1877,  ii.,  285). 

(g)  Dr.  Joseph  Priestley. 

He  published  in  1782  An  History  of  the  Corruptions  of  Christianity.  In 
Part  I.  of  the  General  Conclusion  "  he  threw  down  his  gauntlet  "  to  Gibbon, 
and  in  Part  II.  to  Hurd  [ante,  pp.  178,  203).  Gibbon  thus  refers  to  the  book 
in  The  Decline,  vi.,  128:  "I  shall  recommend  to  public  animadversion  two 
passages  in  Dr.  Priestley,  which  betray  the  ultimate  tendency  of  his  opinions. 
At  the  first  of  these  (Hist,  of  the  Corruptions  of  Christianity,  vol.  i.,  pp.  275, 
276)  the  priest,  at  the  second  (vol.  ii.,  p.  484)  the  magistrate,  may  tremble  !" 

In  the  first  passage  Priestley  says  :  "Great  buildings  do  not  often  fall  at 
once,  but  some  apartments  will  still  be  thought  habitable  after  the  rest  are 
seen  to  be  in  ruins.  It  is  the  same  with  great  systems  of  doctrine,  the  parts  of 
which  have  long  gone  together.  The  force  of  evidence  obliges  us  at  first  to 
abandon  some  one  part  of  them  only,  and  we  do  not  immediately  see  that,  in 
consequence  of  this,  we  ought  to  abandon  others,  and  at  length  the  whole. 
.  .  .  The  detection  of  one  falsehood  prepares  us  for  the  detection  of  another, 
till,  before  we  are  aware  of  it,  we  find  no  trace  left  of  the  immense  and 
seemingly  well-compacted  system."     With  all  this  Gibbon  must  have  agreed. 

In  the  second  passage  Priestley  says :  "It  is  nothing  but  the  alliance  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Christ  with  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  (an  alliance  which 
our  Lord  himself  expressly  disclaimed)  that  supports  the  grossest  corruptions 
of  Christianity  ;  and  perhaps  we  must  wait  for  the  fall  of  the  civil  powers 
before  this  most  unnatural  alliance  be  broken.  .  .  .  May  the  Kingdom  of  God 
and  of  Christ  (that  which  I  conceive  to  be  intended  in  the  Lord's  prayer) 
truly  and  fully  come,  though  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  be  removed,  in 
order  to  make  way  for  it." 

For  the  letter  in  which  Gibbon  ' '  declined  his  challenge  "  see  Misc. 
Works,  ii.,  265.  Priestley  wrote  in  his  reply:  "If  there  be  any  certain 
method  of  discovering  a  man's  real  object,  yours  has  been  to  discredit 
Christianity  in  fact,  while  in  words  you  represent  yourself  as  a  friend  to  it ; 
a  conduct  which  I  scruple  not  to  call  highly  unworthy  and  mean  ;  an  insult 
on  the  common  sense  of  the  Christian  world"  (ib.,  p.  267). 

Such  a  passage  as  the  following  justifies  Priestley's  accusation:  "Some 
deities  of  a  more  recent  and  fashionable  cast  might  soon  have  occupied  the 
deserted  temples  of  Jupiter  and  Apollo,  if,  in  the  decisive  moment,  the 
wisdom  of  Providence  had  not  interposed  a  genuine  revelation,  fitted  to 
inspire  the  most  rational  esteem  and  conviction,  whilst,  at  the  same  time,  it 
was  adorned  with  all  that  could  attract  the  curiosity,  the  wonder,  and  the 
veneration  of  the  people"  (The  Decline,  ii.,  56). 

So  far  was  he  from  "fearing"  Gibbon,  that  he  wished  to  publish  the 
letters  that  had  passed  between  them,  but  was  forbidden  by  him,  as  it  was 
"private  correspondence,  which  a  man  of  honour  is  not  at  liberty  to  print  ". 
He  printed  it  soon  after  the  historian's  death  (Gibbon's  Misc.  Works,  ii.,  265, 
271). 


320  APPENDIX 

Three  years  after  this  attack  on  Priestley  in  Tlie  Decline  and  Fall,  the 
magistrates  of  Birmingham  went  to  sleep,  while  a  Church  and  King  mob 
burnt  down  his  house  and  chapel,  as  well  as  another  chapel  and  the  houses  of 
many  of  his  friends.  The  magistrates  did  not  wake  up  till  the  mob 
"expanded  their  views,"  and  began  to  plunder  indiscriminately  (Life  of 
Priestley,  ed.  1810,  p.  83;  Life  of  Sir  Rowland  Hill,  i.,  32). 

(h)  Dr.  Joseph  White. 

He  was  at  this  time  Professor  of  Arabic  at  Oxford.  Later  on  he  was  given 
in  addition  the  chair  of  Hebrew  and  a  canonry  at  Christ  Church.  In  1784  he 
delivered  the  Bampton  Lectures,  taking  for  his  subject,  "A  Comparison  of 
Mahometism  and  Christianity,  in  their  History,  their  Evidence,  and  their 
Effects.  "These  lectures,"  writes  Dr.  John  Johnstone,  " became  part  of  the 
triumphant  literature  of  the  University  of  Oxford".  Of  them  Dr.  Parr  had 
written  about  one-fifth  part.  Writing  to  Parr  about  a  passage  in  the  manu- 
script of  the  last  lecture,  White  said:  "I  fear  I  did  not  clearly  explain 
myself  ;  I  humbly  beg  the  favour  of  you  to  make  my  meaning  more  intel- 
ligible". On  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Badcock  in  1788,  a  note  for  £500 
from  White  was  found  in  his  pocket-book.  White  pretended  that  this  was 
remuneration  for  some  other  work ;  but  it  was  believed  on  good  grounds  that 
Badcock  had  begun  what  Parr  had  completed,  and  that  these  famous  Lectures 
were  mainly  their  work.  Badcock  was  one  of  the  writers  in  the  Monthly 
Review. 

On  May  13,  1784,  White  wrote  to  Parr:  "The  fame  of  the  Lectures 
increases  daily  ;  they  give  equal  satisfaction  to  the  beaux  and  the  belles  and 
the  Doctors.  The  Church  is  crowded  in  the  most  extraordinary  manner " 
(Johnstone's  Life  of  Parr,  i.,  220-1,  230,  241,  251;  see  also  id.,  p.  251,  and 
Lowndes's  Bibl.  Man.,  ed.  1871,  p.  2901,  for  an  account  of  a  meeting  held  at 
Parr's  parsonage  to  ascertain  his  share  in  the  Lectures). 

The  passage  in  White's  letter  to  Badcock,  not  quite  accurately  quoted 
ante,  p.  204,  is  as  follows:  "The  part  where  we  encounter  Gibbon  ought  to 
be  brilliant,  and  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  must  be  animated  and  grand 
(Johnstone's  Parr,  i.,  248). 

In  1790  he  pubished  A  Statement  of  Dr.  White's  Literary  Obligations  to  the 
late  Rev.  Mr.  Samuel  Badcock  aud  the  Rev.  Samuel  Parr,  LL.D.  For  his 
explanation  of  the  note  for  £500  see  id.,  p.  64. 

It  is  in  The  Decline,  vi.,  15,  that  Gibbon  praises  White :  "Perhaps  the 
interpretation  of  the  Koran  would  now  be  taught  in  the  schools  at  Oxford, 
and  her  pupils  might  demonstrate  to  a  circumcised  people  the  sanctity  and 
truth  of  the  revelation  of  Mahomet".  Gibbon  adds  in  a  note:  "Yet  I 
sincerely  doubt  whether  the  Oxford  mosque  would  have  produced  a  volume 
of  controversy  so  elegant  and  ingenious  as  the  sermons  lately  preached  by 
Mr.  White,  the  Arabic  Professor,  at  Mr.  Bampton' s  lecture.  His  observa- 
tions on  the  character  and  religion  of  Mahomet  are  always  adapted  to  his 
argument,  and  generally  founded  in  truth  and  reason.  He  sustains  the  part 
of  a  lively  and  eloquent  advocate  ;  and  sometimes  rises  to  the  merit  of  an 
historian  and  philosopher." 

In  spite  of  his  borrowed  plumes,  White  was  a  man  of  real  learning 
(Johnstone's  Life  of  Parr,  i.,  268). 

Macaulay  recorded  in  Oct.  9,  1850  :  "I  picked  up  Whitaker's  criticism  on 
Gibbon.  Pointless  spite,  with  here  and  there  a  just  remark.  .  .  .  How 
utterly  all  the  attacks  on  his  History  are  forgotten  !  this  of  Whitaker  ;  Ran- 
dolph's ;  Chelsum's ;  Davies's ;  that  stupid  beast  Joseph  Milner's  ;  even 
Watson's.  And  still  the  book,  with  all  its  great  faults  of  substance  and  style, 
retains,  and  will  retain,  its  place  in  our  literature,  and  this  though  it  is 
offensive  to  the  religious  feeling  of  the  country,  and  really  most  unfair  where 
religion  is  concerned.  But  Whitaker  was  as  dirty  a  cur  as  I  remember  " 
(Macaulay's  Life,  ed.  1877,  ii.,  285  ;  for  Whitaker,  see  Misc.  Works,  i.,  243,  »., 


APPENDIX  321 

and  Nichols's  Lit.  Artec,  in.,  102,  where  it  is  impudently  asserted  that 
Gibbon  "submitted  the  MS.  of  the  first  volume  of  Tlie  Decline,  &c,  to  his 
inspection,  but  suppressed  the  chapter  obnoxious  to  the  Christian  world,  over- 
awed by  his  high  character  "). 


40.  GIBBON'S  VINDICATION  (p.  202). 

The  full  title  of  the  work  is  A  Vindication  of  Some  Passages  in  the  XVth 
and  XVIth  Chapters  of  the  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman 
Empire.     By  the  Author.     London,  1779.     8vo  (Misc.   Works,  iv.,  415). 

Horace  Walpole  wrote  on  Jan.  14,  1779  (Letters,  vii.,  165) :  "There  is,  in 
sooth,  a  charming  novelty  to-day  of  a  very  different  kind  ;  an  answer  from 
Mr.  Gibbon  to  the  monks  that  have  attacked  his  two  famous  chapters.  It 
is  the  quintessence  of  argument,  wit,  temper,  spirit,  and  consequently  of 
victory.  I  did  not  expect  anything  so  luminous  in  this  age  of  Egyptian 
darkness — nor  the  monks  either."  He  had  written  to  Gibbon  somewhat 
earlier:  "  Davies  and  his  prototypes  tell  you  Middleton,  &c,  have  used  the 
same  objections,  and  they  have  been  confuted ;  answering,  in  the  theologic 
dictionary,  signifying  confuting'"  (ib.,  vii.,  158).  Walpole  probably  remem- 
bered Dryden,  who  at  the  end  of  his  Controversy  with  Stillingfleet,  wrote  : 
"Everything  which  is  called  an  answer  is  with  them  a  confutation" 
(Dryden' s  Works,  ed.  1892,  xvii.,  253). 

Mackintosh  (Life,  i.,  245)  "considered  the  sixteenth  chapter  as  a  verj- 
ingenious  and  specious,  but  very  disgraceful  extenuation  of  the  cruelties 
perpetrated  by  the  Roman  magistrates  against  the  Christians.  It  is  written 
in  the  most  contemptibly  factious  spirit  of  prejudice  against  the  sufferers." 
Gibbon  had  tried  in  his  Vindication  to  meet  this  charge  by  saying  that  as 
there  is  no  "  Heathen  narrative  of  the  persecutions  of  Decius  and  Dio- 
cletian," he  had  constituted  himself  "counsel  for  the  prisoner,  who  is 
incapable  of  making  any  defence  for  himself"  (Misc.  Works,  iv.,  626). 

In  another  passage,  after  stating  that  his  accusers  "  convert  a  geographical 
observation  into  a  theological  error,"  he  continues  :  "When  I  recollect  that  the 
imputation  of  a  similar  error  was  employed  by  the  implacable  Calvin  to  preci- 
pitate and  to  justify  the  execution  of  Servetus,  I  must  applaud  the  felicity  of 
this  country  and  of  this  age,  which  has  disarmed,  if  it  could  not  mollify,  the 
fierceness  of  ecclesiastial  criticism"  (ib.,  iv.,  539). 

For  the  reasons  why  he  was  "more  deeply  scandalised  at  the  single 
execution  of  Servetus  than  at  the  hecatombs  which  have  blazed  in  the  Auto 
da  F£s  of  Spain  and  Portugal  "  see  The  Decline,  vi.,  127. 

By  his  conversion  to  Rome  Gibbon  had  already  been  guilty  of  high 
treason  (ante,  p.  73).  By  his  Decline  and  Fall  he  laid  himself  open  to 
prosecution  under  the  Statute  9  and  10,  William  III.,  c.  22,  which  enacts 
that  "  if  any  person  educated  in  the  Christian  religion  shall  by  writing,  &c, 
deny  the  Christian  religion  to  be  true  he  shall  ...  for  the  second  offence 
.  .  .  suffer  three  years'  imprisonment  without  bail  "  (Blackstone's  Com ment., 
ed.  1775,  iv.,  44).     See  also  ante,  p.  291. 

Whiston  (Memoirs,  p.  226)  records  that  in  1714,  at  the  Stafford  Assizes,  he 
heard  Baron  Price  "exhorting  the  Grand  Jury  to  present  all  such  as  blas- 
phemed or  condemned  the  Church's  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  The  High 
Sheriff,"  Whiston  continues,  "afterwards  told  the  Baron  that  I  was  in 
Court,  and  should  naturally  suppose  this  part  of  his  charge  levelled  against 
me  in  particular.  The  Baron  replied  that  he  meant  no  such  thing  ;  that  it 
was  only  his  usual  form  ;  nay,  that  I  was  the  honestest  man  in  the  world, 
and  that  he  was  then  reading  my  works." 


322  APPENDIX 


41.  BISHOP  HORSLEY  (p.  203). 

Samuel  Horsley  was  Bishop,  first  of  St.  David's,  and  next  of  Rochester. 
He  published  Tracts  in  Controversy  with  Dr.  Priestley  upon  the  Historical 
Question  of  the  Belief  of  the  First  Ages  in  Our  Lord's  Divinity.  Priestley, 
who  complains  of  the  rudeness  of  the  attack,  replied  "in  four  volumes 
octavo.  This  work,"  he  adds,  "has  brought  me  more  antagonists,  and  I  now 
write  a  pamphlet  annually  in  defence  of  the  Unitarian  doctrine  against  all 
my  opponents  "  (Memoirs  of  Priestley,  ed.  1810,  p.  70). 

Windham,  in  his  Diary,  p.  125,  speaks  of  Horsley  as  having  his  thoughts 
"intent  wholly  on  prospects  of  Church  preferment  '.  Bentham  (  Works,  x., 
41)  says  :  "I  have  heard  Wilberforce  call  him  'a  dirty  rascal '  and  ' a  dirty 
scoundrel '  ". 

Lord  Holland  (Memoirs,  &c,  ii.,  90)  describes  Horsley  as  "a  man  of 
coarse  and  vulgar  manners,  hot  temper,  and  imprudent  conduct ;  .  .  .  but 
distinguished  for  ready  and  powerful  eloquence,  a  bold  spirit,  and  a  strong 
mind".  According  to  Lord  Campbell  (Lives  of  the  Chancellors,  ed.  1846,  v., 
635)  Thurlow  rewarded  him  for  his  Letters  to  Priestley  by  a  stall  at 
Gloucester,  "saying  that  'those  who  supported  the  Church  should  be  sup- 
ported by  it " ' . 

Just  as  Gibbon  boasted  that  attacks  on  him  by  the  clergy  were  rewarded 
in  this  world,  so  was  it  said  of  Priestley  that  ' '  to  dispute  with  him  was 
deemed  the  road  to  preferment.  He  had  already  made  two  Bishops,  and 
there  were  still  several  heads  which  wanted  mitres,  aud  others  who  cast  a 
more  humble  eye  upon  tithes  and  glebe  lands  "  (Life  of  William  Hutton,  ed. 
1816,  p.  161). 


42.  BURKE'S  PLAN  OF  ECONOMICAL  REFORMATION  (p.  207). 

I  can  never  forget  the  delight  with  which  that  diffusive  and  ingenious 
orator,  Mr.  Burke,  was  heard  by  all  sides  of  the  house,  and  even  by  those 
whose  existence  he  proscribed.  (See  Mr.  Burke's  Speech  on  the  Bill  of 
Reform,  pp.  72-80  [Burke's  Works,  ed.  1808,  iii.,  322-334].)  The  Lords  of 
Trade  blushed  at  their  insignificancy,  and  Mr.  Eden's  appeal  to  the  2,500 
volumes  of  our  Reports,  served  only  to  excite  a  general  laugh.  I  take  this 
opportunity  of  certifying  the  correctness  of  Mr.  Burke's  printed  speeches, 
which  I  have  heard  and  read  (Footnote  by  Gibbon). 

Burke  on  Feb.  11,  1780,  submitted  to  Parliament  "a  plan  for  the  .  .  . 
economical  reformation  of  the  civil  and  other  establishments ' ' .  The  passage 
quoted  in  the  text  is  found  in  Burke's  Works,  ed.  1808,  iii.,  332.  On  Feb.  23 
he  brought  in  his  Bill  to  effect  this  reformation  (Pari.  Hist.,  xxi.,  111).  On 
March  13,  in  answer  to  Mr.  Eden,  he  said  that  "his  2,300  volumes  would 
serve  as  a  monument  under  which  both  he  and  his  clause  might  be  buried, 
and  form  a  funeral  pile  for  them  as  large  as  the  pyramids  of  Egypt ".  Eden 
had  instanced  the  illustrious  writers  who  had  sat  at  the  Board — Locke, 
Addison,  and  Prior.  Burke  replied  that  "considered  as  an  Academy  of 
Belles  Lettres,  he  was  willing  to  bow  his  head  to  the  great  and  shining  talents 
of  its  several  members.  Every  department  of  literature  had  its  separate 
Professor.  The  historian's  labours,  the  wise  and  salutary  result  of  deep 
religious  research  [Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall],  &c.  "  (id.,  pp.  235-8).  On 
March  13,  the  Lords  of  Trade  were  in  vain  ' '  urged  to  withdraw  before  the 
division,  on  the  ground  of  indecency  in  their  voting  on  a  question  in  which 
they  were  so  personally  concerned"  (Ann.  Reg.,  1780,  i.,  145).  Pitt,  not  yet 
in  Parliament,  witnessed  from  the  gallery  "a  scene  which  (he  writes)  I  never 
saw  before,  a  majority  against  a  Minister"  (Stanhope's  Pitt,  i.,  38). 

"The  storm  blew  over"  owing  to  the  illness  of  the  Speaker,  which  kept 


APPENDIX  323 

the  House  from  meeting  for  ten  days.  During  this  recess  "effectual  means 
were  used  to  bring  the  numerous  deserters  from  the  Court  back  to  their 
original  standard  ".  On  April  24  the  Ministers  had  a  majority  of  51.  In  a 
scene  of  "shameful  disorder,"  Fox  "declared  the  vote  of  that  night  to  be 
scandalous,  disgraceful,  and  treacherous.  The  defection,"  he  added, 
"originated  chiefly  among  the  county  members "  {Pari.  Hist.,  xxi.,  523-6; 
Ann.  Reg.,  1780,  i.,  181). 

On  March  8  the  clause  for  abolishing  the  office  of  Third  Secretary  of 
State,  or  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies,  was  lost  by  201  to  208  (Par/. 
Hist.,  xxi.,  193,  217).  The  office  was  abolished  at  the' Peace  of  1782,  but 
restored  in  1794  (Stanhope's  Pitt,  ed.  1861,  ii.,  242).  "  Our  late  president  " 
was  Lord  George  Germain,  who  was  appointed  in  1775,  and  held  the  office 
till  1779  (Diet,  of  Nat.  Biog.).  In  Nov.,  1775,  he  was  also  made  Secretary  of 
State  for  America  (Walpole's  Letters,  vi.,  280),  which  office  he  held  till 
March,  1782. 


43.  GIBBON'S  ACCEPTANCE  OF  A  PLACE  (p.  207). 

"From  Edward  Gibbon,  Esq.,  to  Edward  Elliot,  Esq.,  of  Port  Elliot. 

"July  2,  1779. 
"  Dear  Sir, 

"Yesterday  I  received  a  very  interesting  communication  from  my  friend 
the  Attorney-General  [Wedderburne],  whose  kind  and  honourable  behaviour 
towards  me  I  must  always  remember  with  the  highest  gratitude.  He 
informed  me  that,  in  consequence  of  an  arrangement,  a  place  at  the  Board  of 
Trade  was  reserved  for  me,  and  that  as  soon  as  I  signified  my  acceptance  of 
it,  he  was  satisfied  no  farther  difficulties  would  arise.  My  answer  to  him  was 
sincere  and  explicit.  I  told  him  that  I  was  far  from  approving  all  the  past 
measures  of  the  administration,  even  some  of  those  in  which  I  myself  had 
silently  concurred  ;  that  I  saw,  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  many  capital 
defects  in  the  characters  of  some  of  the  present  ministers,  and  was  sorry  that 
in  so  alarming  a  situation  of  public  affairs,  the  country  had  not  the  assistance 
of  several  able  and  honest  men  who  are  now  in  opposition.  But  that  I  had 
not  formed  with  any  of  those  persons  in  opposition  any  engagements  or  con- 
nections which  could  in  the  least  restrain  or  affect  my  parliamentary  conduct: 
that  I  could  not  discover  among  them  such  superior  advantages,  either  of 
measures  or  of  abilities,  as  could  make  me  consider  it  as  a  duty  to  attach 
myself  to  their  cause  ;  and  that  I  clearly  understood,  from  the  public  and 
private  language  of  one  of  their  leaders  (Charles  Fox),  that  in  the  actual  state 
of  the  country,  he  himself  was  seriously  of  opinion  that  opposition  could  not 
tend  to  any  good  purpose,  and  might  be  productive  of  much  mischief  ;  that, 
for  those  reasons,  I  saw  no  objections  which  could  prevent  me  from  accepting 
an  office  under  the  present  government,  and  that  I  was  ready  to  take  a  step 
which  I  found  to  be  consistent  both  with  my  interest  and  my  honour. 

"  It  must  now  be  decided,  whether  I  may  continue  to  live  in  England,  or 
whether  I  must  soon  withdraw  myself  into  a  kind  of  philosophical  exile  in 
Switzerland.  My  father  left  his  affairs  in  a  state  of  embarrassment,  and  even 
of  distress.  My  attempts  to  dispose  of  a  part  of  my  landed  property  have 
hitherto  been  disappointed,  and  are  not  likely  at  present  to  be  more  success- 
ful ;  and  my  plan  of  expense,  though  moderate  in  itself,  deserves  the  name 
of  extravagance,  since  it  exceeds  my  real  income.  The  addition  of  the  salary 
which  is  now  offered  will  make  my  situation  perfectly  easy  ;  but  I  hope  you 
will  do  me  the  justice  to  believe  that  my  mind  could  not  be  so,  unless  I  were 
satisfied  of  the  rectitude  of  my  own  conduct "  (Footnote  by  Lord  Sheffield). 

The  following  extracts  from  Gibbon's  Letters  show  his  opinion  of  the 
ministry  : — 


324  APPENDIX 

"(Oct.  31,  1775.)  We  have  a  warm  parliament,  but  an  indolent  cabinet" 
(Corres.,  i.,  272). 

"(Jan.  29,  1776.)  I  much  fear  that  our  leaders  have  not  a  genius  which 
can  act  at  the  distance  of  3,000  miles  "  (ib.,  p.  278). 

"(Aug.  11,  1777.)  What  a  wretched  piece  of  work  do  we  seem  to  be 
making  of  it  in  America  !  .  .  .  Upon  the  whole,  I  find  it  much  easier  to 
defend  the  justice  than  the  policy  of  our  measures,  but  there  are  certain 
cases  where  whatever  is  repugnant  to  sound  policy  ceases  to  be  just"  (id., 
p.  316). 

"  (Dec.  16,  1777.)  I  shall  scarcely  give  my  consent  to  exhaust  still  further 
the  finest  country  in  the  world,  in  the  prosecution  of  a  war  from  whence  no 
reasonable  man  entertains  any  hopes  of  success"  (ib.,  p.  325). 

"(Feb.  28,  1778.)  I  still  repeat  that  in  my  opinion  Lord  N.  [North]  does 
not  deserve  pardon  for  the  past,  applause  for  the  present,  or  confidence  for 
the  future"  (ib.,  p.  331). 

"(Dec.  6,  1781.)  The  present  state  of  public  affairs  is  indeed  deplorable, 
and  I  fear  hopeless  "  (ib.,  ii.,  10). 

Lord  Sheffield,  defending  his  friend,  says  that  "although  Mr.  Gibbon 
was  not  perfectly  satisfied  with  every  measure,  yet  he  uniformly  supported 
all  the  principal  ones  regarding  the  American  war.  .  .  .  He  liked  the  brilliant 
society  of  a  Club,  the  most  distinguished  members  of  which  were  notorious 
for  their  opposition  to  Government,  and  might  be  led,  in  some  degree,  to  join 
in  their  language  "  (Gibbon's  Misc.  Works,  i.,  236).  Unfortunately  very  few 
division  lists  are  preserved.  I  find,  however,  that  on  Feb.  2,  1778,  he  voted 
for  Fox's  motion  "  that  no  more  of  the  Old  Corps  be  sent  out  of  the  King- 
dom". Had  it  been  carried,  new  levies  only  could  have  been  sent  to 
America  (Pari.  Hist.,  xix.,  684). 

G.  Hardinge  wrote  to  Horace  Walpole  (n.  d.)  :  "  Amongst  the  books  of 
Charles  Fox  carried  off  by  the  indiscriminate  hands  of  the  law,  and  sold 
under  an  execution,  was  an  odd  volume  of  Gibbon's  History  of  the  Roman 
Empire.  It  sold  for  three  guineas,  more  in  honour  to  this  manuscript  in  the 
first  leaf  than  to  the  work  : — 

"  '  I  received  this  work  from  the  Author  (on  such  a  day). — N.B.  I  heard 
him  declare  at  Brook's,  the  day  after  the  Rescript  of  Spain  was  notified,  that 
nothing  could  save  this  country  but  six  heads  (of  certain  Ministers  whom  he 
named)  upon  the  table.  In  fourteen  days  after  this  anathema  he  became  a 
Ijyrd  of  Trade  ;  and  has  ever  since  talked  out  of  the  House,  as  he  has  voted 
in  it,  the  advocate  and  champion  of  those  Ministers.  Charles  Fox 
(Nichols's  Lit.  Hist.,  iii.,  213). 

Wilberforce  in  1796  recorded  the  following  :  "'  There  are  two  ways, '  said 
Eliot,  '  of  telling  a  story.  Gibbon  was  charged  with  having  said,  a  fortnight 
before  he  took  a  place  under  Lord  North,  that  the  nation's  affairs  would 
never  go  on  well  till  the  minister's  head  was  on  the  table  of  the  House  of 
Commons.  Gibbon  himself  told  the  story,  that  he  had  said  till  both  North's 
and  Fox's  heads  were  on  the  table'"  (Life  of  W.  Wilberforce,  ed.  1839,  ii., 
179). 

Horace  Walpole,  in  May,  1780,  spoke  of  "the  Historian's  conversion  to 
the  Court"  (Letters,  vii.,  361).  On  April  1,  1781,  he  wrote:  "If  you  will 
not  read  the  Constantinopolitan  Historian,  you  will  at  least  not  disdain  to 
turn  to  a  particular  passage  or  two  ;  look  at  page  46  of  vol.  ii.  [ed.  Bury,  ii., 
178],  on  the  reduction  of  the  legions,  beginning  at  the  words,  "The  same 
timid  policy" .  Lord  John  [Cavendish]  says,  he  is  persuaded  that  Gibbon 
had  thrown  in  that  and  such  sentences  and  sentiments  when  he  was  paying 
court  to  Charles  Fox,  and  forgot  to  correct  them  after  his  change  "  (ib.,  viii., 
24). 

For  some  verses  on  Gibbon's  acceptance  of  office,  attributed  to  Fox,  see 
Jesse's  George  Selwyn,  iv.,  278. 


APPENDIX  325 

44.  THE  THREE  WITNESSES  AND  ARCHDEACON  TRAVIS  (p.  210). 

Gibbon,  writing  of  "the  orthodox  theologians"  of  the  African  Chinch  in 
the  sixth  century,  says  :  ' '  Even  the  Scriptures  themselves  were  profaned  by 
their  rash  and  sacrilegious  hands.  The  memorable  text  which  asserts  the 
unity  of  the  Three  who  bear  witness  in  Heaven  is  condemned  by  the  universal 
silence  of  the  orthodox  fathers,  ancient  versions,  and  authentic  manuscripts. 
.  .  .  The  pious  fraud,  which  was  embraced  with  equal  zeal  at  Rome  and  at 
Geneva,  has  been  infinitely  multiplied  in  every  country  and  every  language 
of  modern  Europe"  (The  Decline,  iv.,  89). 

"The  memorable  text"  is  as  follows:  "For  there  are  three  that  bear 
record  in  heaven,  the  Father,  the  Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  these 
three  are  one  "  (1  Epistle  of  St.  John,  v.,  7).  In  spite  of  Gibbon's  prophecy,  it 
disappeared  in  1885  from  the  Revised  Version  of  the  New  Testament. 

Its  genuineness  was  defended  by  Archdeacon  Travis,  who  "published 
three  short  letters  against  Mr.  Gibbon  in  The  Gentleman  s  Magazine,  1782 
[pp.  (>5,  278,  330,  522].  These  letters  he  afterwards  reprinted  (4to,  1784), 
with  two  others,  much  longer,  addressed  to  Mr.  Gibbon.  .  .  .  He  published 
a  second  edition  (8vo,  1786),  with  some  alterations,  and  a  considerable  increase 
of  bulk"  (Porson's  Letters  to  Travis,  Preface,  p.  9). 

''I  was  occupied  two  years,'  said  Porson,  'in  composing  the  Letters  to 
Travis  ;  I  received  thirty  pounds  for  them  from  Egerton,  and  I  am  glad  to 
find  that  he  lost  sixteen  by  the  publication'  "  (Rogers's  Table-Talk,  &c. ,  p. 
302). 

"  When  the  Letters  to  Travis  first  appeared,  Rennell  said  to  me,  'It  is 
just  such  a  book  as  the  devil  would  write,  if  he  could  hold  a  pen'  "  (lb.,  p. 
303). 

"It  is  a  masterly  work,"  wrote  Macaulay.  "A  comparison  between  it 
and  the  Phalaris  would  be  a  comparison  between  Porson's  mind  and  Bentley's 
mind ;  Porson's  more  sure-footed,  more  exact,  more  neat ;  Bentley's  far 
more  comprehensive  and  inventive"  (Trevelyan's  Macaulay,  ed.  1877,  ii., 
289). 

The  following  character  of  Travis,  given  in  Nichols's  Lit.  Artec.,  ix.,  78,  is 
in  curious  contrast  with  the  character  given  by  Gibbon  :  "Though  a  Pluralist 
and  a  man  of  respectable  talents,  Mr.  Travis  was  remarkably  affable,  facetious, 
and  pleasant.  The  universality  of  his  genius  was  evinced  by  the  various 
transactions  in  which  he  was  concerned,  and  in  all  of  which  he  excelled.  In 
his  manners  the  gentleman  and  the  scholar  were  gracefully  and  happily 
blended. ' ' 


45.  BISHOP  NEWTON  (p.  211). 

"  (Extract from  Mr.  Gibbon's  Common  Place  Book.) 

"Thomas  Newton,  Bishop  of  Bristol  and  Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  was  born  at 
Litchfield  on  Dec.  21,  1703,  O.S.  (1st  Jan.,  1704,  N.S.),  and  died  Feb.  14, 
1782,  in  the  79th  year  of  his  age.  A  few  days  before  his  death  he  finished 
the  memoirs  of  his  own  life,  which  have  been  prefixed  to  an  edition  of  his 
posthumous  works,  first  published  in  quarto,  and  since  (1787)  re-published  in 
six  volumes  octavo. 

['Pp.  173,  174  [ed.  1782,  i.,  129].  'Some  books  were  published  in  1781, 
which  employed  some  of  the  Bishop's  leisure  hours,  and  during  his  illness. 
Mr.  Gibbon's  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  he  read 
throughout,  but  it  by  no  means  answered  his  expectation ;  for  he  found  it 
rather  a  prolix  and  tedious  performance,  his  matter  uninteresting,  and  his 
style  affected  ;  his  testimonies  not  to  be  depended  upon,  and  his  frequent 
scoffs  at  religion  offensive  to  every  sober  mind.     He  had  before  been  con- 


326  APPENDIX 

victed  of  making  false  quotations,  which  should  have  taught  him  more 
prudence  and  caution.  But,  without  examining  his  authorities,  there  is  one 
which  must  necessarily  strike  every  man  who  has  read  Dr.  Burnet's  Treatise 
de  StatH  Mortuorum.  In  vol.  Hi.,  p.  99  [ed.  Bury,  iii.,  2l2],  Mr.  G.  has  the 
following  note:  "Burnet  {de  S.  M.,  pp.  5C-84)  collects  the  opinions  of  the 
Fathers,  as  far  as  they  assert  the  sleep  or  repose  of  human  souls  till  the  day 
of  judgment.  He  afterwards  exposes  (p.  91)  the  inconveniences  which  must 
arise  if  they  possessed  a  more  active  and  sensible  existence.  Who  would  not 
from  hence  infer  that  Dr.  B.  was  an  advocate  for  the  sleep  or  insensible 
existence  of  the  soul  after  death  ?  whereas  his  doctrine  is  directly  the  con- 
trary. He  has  employed  some  chapters  in  treating  of  the  state  of  human 
souls  in  the  interval  between  death  and  the  resurrection  ;  and  after  various 
proofs  from  reason,  from  scripture,  and  the  Fathers,  his  conclusions  are, 
that  human  souls  exist  after  their  separation  from  the  body,  that  they  are  in 
a  good  or  evil  state  according  to  their  good  or  ill  behaviour,  but  that  neither 
their  happiness  nor  their  misery  will  be  complete  or  perfect  before  the  day  of 
judgment.  His  argumentation  is  thus  summed-up  at  the  end  of  the  4th 
chapter — Ex  quibus  constat  prima,  animas  superesse  extincto  corpore  ;  secundo, 
bonus  bene,  malas  male  se  habit uras  ;  tertio,  nee  Mis  summam  felicitatem,  nee 
his  summam  miseriam  accessuram  esse  ante  diem  judicii."  (The  Bishop's  read- 
ing the  whole  was  a  greater  compliment  to  the  work  than  was  paid  to  it  by 
two  of  the  most  eminent  of  his  brethren  for  their  learning  and  station.  The 
one  entered  upon  it,  but  was  soon  wearied,  and  laid  it  aside  in  disgust ;  the 
other  returned  it  upon  the  bookseller's  hands  ;  and  it  is  said  that  Mr.  G. 
himself  happened  unluckily  to  be  in  the  shop  at  the  same  time.)' 

"  Does  the  Bishop  comply  with  his  own  precept  in  the  next  page?  (p.  175 
[ed.  1782,  p.  131]).  '  Old  age  should  lenify,  should  soften  men's  manners, 
and  make  them  more  mild  and  gentle ;  but  often  has  the  contrary  effect, 
hardens  their  hearts,  and  makes  them  more  sour  and  crabbed.' — He  is  speak- 
ing of  Dr.  Johnson. 

' '  Have  I  ever  insinuated  that  preferment-hunting  is  the  great  occupation 
of  an  ecclesiastical  life  ?  (Memoirs  passim)  ;  that  a  minister's  influence  and  a 
bishop's  patronage  are  sometimes  pledged  eleven  deep?  (p.  151) ;  that  a  pre- 
bendary considers  the  audit  week  as  the  better  part  of  the  year  ?  (p.  127) ;  or 
that  the  most  eminent  of  priests,  the  pope  himself,  would  change  their 
religion,  if  any  thing  better  could  be  offered  them  ?  (p.  56).  Such  things  are 
more  than  insinuated  in  the  Bishop's  Life,  which  afforded  some  scandal  to  the 
church,  and  some  diversion  to  the  profane  laity  "  (Footnote  by  Lord  Sheffield). 

Newton  wrote  in  the  third  person  of  his  appointment  as  Bishop  of  Bristol 
and  Residentiary  of  St.  Paul's  :  "He  was  no  great  gainer  by  his  preferment  ; 
for  he  was  obliged  to  give  up  the  prebend  of  Westminster,  the  precentorship 
of  York,  the  lectureship  of  St.  George's,  Hanover  Square,  and  the  genteel 
office  of  sub-almoner".  Bristol  was,  he  said,  "the  poorest  bishopric  in  the 
kingdom  ".  When  the  Duke  of  York  was  told  by  him  that  "its  certain  clear 
income  was  £300  a  year  and  little  more  ;  '  How  then,'  said  he,  '  can  jtou 
afford  to  give  me  so  good  a  dinner  ? ' '  The  Bishop  still  retained  his  City 
living,  and  later  on  got  the  Deanery  of  St.  Paul's  (Newton's  Works,  ed.  1782, 
i.,  9,  65,  92,  195). 

He  asked  Green,  Bishop  of  Lichfield,  to  "collate  Mr.  Seward  of  Lichfield 
[Boswell's  Johnson,  ii.,  467]  to  a  prebend  in  his  church  of  Lincoln.  The 
Bishop  replied  that  at  present  he  stood  engaged  eleven  deep  to  the  Duke  of 
Newcastle,  Lord  Hardwick,  and  their  friends"  (ib.,  p.  115). 

After  describing  how  "  he  had  for  several  mouths  together  been  at  Bristol, 
without  seeing  the  face  of  Dean,  or  Prebendary,  or  any  thing  better  than  a 
Minor  Canon,"  and  how  the  company  at  the  Wells  [Clifton]  "were 
astonished  at  finding  only  one  Minor  Canon  both  to  read  and  preach,  and 
perhaps  administer  the  Sacrament,"  he  continues:  "The  church  of 
Rochester  was  said  to  be  much  in  the  same  predicament.     One  of  the  Pre- 


APPENDIX  327 

bendarios  dining  with  the  late  Bishop  Pearce,  he  asked  him,  'Pray,  Dr.  S., 
what  is  vour  time  of  residence  at  Rochester?'  '  Oh  !  my  Lord,'  said  lie,  'I 
reside  there  the  better  part  of  the  year  '.  '  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  it,'  replied 
the  good  Bishop.  But  the  Doctor's  meaning  was,  and  the  fact  really  was, 
that  he  resided  there  only  during  the  week  of  the  Audit  "  (ib.,  p.  95). 

"One  day  at  the  levee  George  I.  asked  Dr.  Savage  how  long  he  had 
stayed  at  Rome.  Upon  his  answering  how  long,  '  Why,'  said  the  King, 
'  you  stayed  long  enough  ;  why  did  not  you  convert  the  Pope  ?  '  '  Because, 
Sir,'  replied  he,  '  I  had  nothing  better  to  offer  him  '  "  {ib.,  p.  44). 

Horace  Walpole  wrote  on  June  4,  1782  (Letters,  viii.,  229):  "Have  you 
seen  Bishop  Newton's  Life  ?  I  have  only  in  a  Review.  You  may  perhaps  think 
it  was  drawn  up  by  his  washerwoman  ;  but  it  is  more  probably  mangled  (v. 
the  Laundress's  vocabulary  :  I  do  not  mean  maimed)  by  Lord  Mansfield  him- 
self ;  at  least  he  had  the  MS.  for  some  weeks  in  his  possession." 

"Dr.  Newton,  the  Bishop  of  Bristol,  having  been  mentioned,  Johnson, 
recollecting  the  manner  in  which  he  had  been  censured  by  that  Prelate,  thus 
retaliated:  'Tom  knew  he  should  be  dead  before  what  he  has  said  of  me 
would  appear.  He  durst  not  have  printed  it  while  he  was  alive.'  Dr.  Adams  : 
'  I  believe  his  Dissertations  on  the  Prophecies  is  his  great  work '.  Johnson  : 
'Why,  Sir,  it  is  Tom's  great  work  ;  but  how  far  it  is  great,  or  how  much  of  it 
is  Tom's,  are  other  questions.  I  fancy  a  considerable  part  of  it  was  borrowed.' 
Dr.  Adams:  '  He  was  a  very  successful  man'.  Johnson:  'I  don't  think  so, 
Sir.  He  did  not  get  very  "high.  He  was  late  in  getting  what  he  did  get ; 
and  he  did  not  get  it  by  the  best  means.  I  believe  he  was  a  gross  flatterer 
(Boswell's  Johnson,  iv.,  285). 

Cowper,  in  1765,  described  Newton  as  "one  of  our  best  bishops,  who  has 
written  the  most  demonstrative  proof  of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  in  my 
mind,  that  ever  was  published"  (Southey's  Cowper,  iii.,  248). 


46.  THE  FALL  OF  LORD  NORTH'S  MINISTRY  (p.  213). 

Gibbon  on  Oct.  14,  1775,  mentions  the  Addresses  which  fill  the  Gazette- 
Addresses  urging  the  prosecution  of  the  war  (Carres.,  i.,  271).  London,  Bristol, 
and  the  Protestants  of  Ireland  were  against  the  war.  The  Scotch,  "almost 
to  a  man,  proffered  life  and  fortune  in  support  of  the  present  measures.  The 
same  approbation  was  given,  though  with  somewhat  less  earnestness  and 
unanimity,  by  a  great  number  of  towns  in  England.  The  recruiting  service, 
however,  a  kind  of  political  barometer  with  respect  to  the  sentiments  of  the 
lowest  orders,  went  on  very  heavily  "  (Ann.  Reg.,  1776,  i.,  38). 

Horace  Walpole,  writing  on  March  3,  1781,  of  The  Decline  and  Fall,  says 
(Letters,  viii.,  15) :  "One  paragraph  I  must  select,  which  I  believe  the  author 
did  not  intend  should  be  so  applicable  to  the  present  moment.  'The 
Armorican  provinces  of  Gaul  and  the  greatest  part  of  Spain  were  thrown  into 
a  state  of  disorderly  independence  by  the  confederations  of  the  Bagauda; ; 
and  the  Imperial  ministers  pursued  with  proscriptive  laws  and  ineffectual 
arms  the  rebels  whom  they  had  made '  (end  of  chap,  xxxv.)." 

The  following  divisions  on  the  American  war  show  the  changes  of  public 
opinion : — 

Ministry.    Opposition. 

June  12,  1781 172  99  (Pari.  Hist,  xxii.,  516). 

Nov.  27,  1781 218  129  (lb.,  p.  729). 

Dec.  12,  1781 220  179  (//>.,  p.  831). 

Feb.  22,  1782 194  193  (lb.,  p.  1048). 

Feb.  27,  1782 234  215  (lb.,  p.  1085). 

On  March  15,  on  a  vote  of  want  of  confidence,  the  Ministry  had  a  majority  of 
236  to  227  (ib.,  p.  1199). 


328  APPENDIX 

On  March  20,  1782,  Johnson  recorded  in  his  Diary:  "The  Ministry  is 
dissolved.  I  prayed  with  Francis  and  gave  thanks."  To  Mr.  Seward  he  said  : 
"I  am  glad  the  Ministry  is  removed.  Such  a  bunch  of  imbecility  never  dis- 
graced a  country"  (Boswell's  Johnson,  iv.,  139;  John.  MisceL,  i.,  104).  The 
next  day  Horace  Walpole  wrote  (Letters,  viii.,  183):  "Lord  North,  at  the 
head  of  the  mercenaries,  laid  down  his  arms  yesterday,  and  surrendered  at 
discretion  ". 

Burke  wrote  of  Lord  North  on  July  28,  1781,  a  few  months  before  he  was 
driven  from  power:  "I  really  pity  Lord  North.  He  has  very  nearly 
exhausted  all  the  funds  of  his  glory.  He  can  now  no  longer  conciliate,  as 
formerly,  the  affections  of  mankind  by  his  amiable  refusals  ;  or  command 
their  admiration  by  the  magnanimity  of  his  submissions"  (Auckland  Corres., 
i.,  310).  For  his  "  incomparable  temper,"  see  ante,  p.  228,  n.  ;  and  for  Lord 
Holland's  anecdote  of  "his  admirable  good  humour  and  pleasantry  "  on  the 
night  of  his  resignation,  see  Bagehot's  Biog.  Studies,  ed.  1881,  p.  128. 


47.  LORD  SHELBURNE' S  MINISTRY  AND  THE  COALITION  OF 
LORD  NORTH  AND  FOX  (p.  214). 

Horace  Walpole  wrote  on  July  1,  1782  (Letters,  viii.,  240)  :  "  I  can  tell  you 
but  one  word,  but  that  is  a  momentous  one.  Lord  Rockingham  died  at  one 
o'clock  at  noon  [sic]  to-day." 

On  July  4  Lord  Loughborough  wrote  to  W.  Eden  (Lord  Auckland)  :  ' '  This 
morning  at  Court  C.  Fox  told  the  first  person  he  saw,  that  he  was  come  with 
the  Seals  to  resign  them,  if  Lord  Shelburne  should  tell  him  he  was  First  Lord 
of  the  Treasury.  .  .  .  Lord  Shelburne  and  he  met  in  the  drawing-room,  and 
had  an  angry  conversation,  as  far  as  people  could  judge  who  only  saw  it. 
Fox  went  into  His  Majesty,  and  in  about  five  minutes  came  out  without  the 
Seals"  (Auckland  Corres.,  i.,  2). 

Ten  days  later  Loughborough  wrote  :  "  The  first  thing  is  to  reconcile  Lord 
North  and  Fox.  The  first,  you  know,  is  irreconcilable  to  no  man  ;  the  second 
will  feel  his  ancient  resentment  totally  absorbed  in  his  more  recent  hostility, 
which  I  think  he  has  no  other  probable  means  of  gratifying"  (id.,  i.,  9). 

Lord  Macaulay  (Misc.  Writings,  ed.  1871,  p.  403),  describing  the  Coalition 
that  was  now  formed  between  these  two  statesmen,  says  of  Fox  :  ' '  Unhappily 
that  great  and  most  amiable  man  was,  at  this  crisis,  hurried  by  his  passions 
into  an  error  which  made  his  genius  and  his  virtues,  during  a  long  course  of 
3'ears,  almost  useless  to  his  country.  .  .  .  Not  three  quarters  of  a  year  had 
elapsed  since  he  and  Burke  had  threatened  North  with  impeachment,  and  had 
described  him,  night  after  night,  as  the  most  arbitrary,  the  most  corrupt,  the 
most  incapable  of  ministers.  They  now  allied  themselves  with  him  for  the 
purpose  of  driving  from  office  a  statesman  with  whom  they  cannot  be  said  to 
have  differed  as  to  any  important  question." 

Fox,  defending  the  Coalition  on  Feb.  17,  1783,  said  of  Lord  North : 
"When  I  was  the  friend  of  the  noble  Lord,  I  found  him  open  and  sincere  ; 
when  the  enemy,  I  found  him  honourable  and  manly.  I  never  had  reason  to 
say  of  the  noble  Lord  that  he  practised  any  of  those  little  subterfuges,  tricks, 
and  stratagems  which  I  found  in  others ;  any  of  those  behind-hand  and  paltry 
manoeuvres  which  destroy  confidence  between  human  beings,  and  which 
degrade  the  character  of  the  statesman  and  the  man"  (Pari.  Hist.,  xxiii., 
487). 

Fox's  first  difference  with  Lord  North  was  over  the  Royal  Marriage  Act  of 
1772,  when  he  resigned  his  post  as  a  Junior  Lord  of  the  Admiralty.  ' ' '  Charles 
Fox '  (observed  Gibbon,  in  one  of  those  sentences  which  render  his  Memoirs 
the  favourite  book  of  readers  who  hold  the  secret  of  good  writing  to  lie  in 
sa}'ing  the  most,  with  the   least  show  of  effort  and   expenditure  of  type) 


APPENDIX  329 

'  very  judiciously  thought  that  Lord  Holland's  friendship  imported  him  more 
than" Lord  North's  '"  (Trevelyan's  Fox,  ed.  1880,  p.  468).  The  sentence  is 
not  in  the  Memoirs,  but  in  Gibbon's  letter  of  Feb.  21,  1772  [Carres.,  i.,  151). 
Pox  had  rejoined  the  Ministry  in  January,  1773,  as  a  Lord  of  the  Treasury, 
but  in  February,  1774,  he  was  dismissed  by  the  Prime  Minister.  From  that 
date  he  was  in  constant  opposition. 

On  Feb.  21,  1783,  resolutions  of  censure  on  the  peace  were  carried  b3'  207 
to  190  {Pari.  Hist.,  xxiii.,  571).  "It  is  remarkable,"  wrote  Horace  Walpole 
on  March  13,  "that  the  counties  and  towns  are  addressing  thanks  for  the 
peace  which  their  representatives  have  censured  "  {Letters,  viii.,  351). 

Lord  Shelburne  at  once  resigned.  "  A  ministerial  interregnum  ensued, 
which  lasted  till  the  beginning  of  April,  during  which  time  the  Kingdom 
remained  in  a  state  of  great  disorder.  .  .  .  On  April  2  a  new  adminis- 
tration was  announced.  The  Duke  of  Portland,  First  Commissioner  of  the 
Treasury  ;  Lord  North,  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Home  Department  ;  and 
Mi.  Fox  for  the  Foreign"  {Ann.  Reg.,  1783,  i.,  168,  175). 

"  When  Mr.  Fox  kissed  hands  on  his  appointment,  Lord  Townshend,  an 
observing  and  caustic  old  man,  said  he  saw  the  King  turn  back  his  ears  and 
eyes  just  like  the  horse  at  Astley's,  when  the  tailor  he  had  determined  to 
throw  was  getting  on  him.  Yet  Mr.  Fox  was  treated  with  civility  ;  Lord 
North  with  manifest  coldness  and  dislike  "  {Life  of  Fox,  by  Earl  Russell,  ed. 
1866,  ii.,  5). 

Gibbon,  following  Lord  North,  adhered  to  Fox  and  Burke.  Eliot,  who 
had  deprived  him  of  his  seat  at  Liskeard  because  he  opposed  Fox  and  Burke, 
followed  Shelburne  and  Pitt.  Within  twelve  months  he  was  rewarded  by 
Pitt  with  a  peerage.  His  eldest  son  the  following  year  married  Pitt's  sister 
(Stanhope's  Pitt,  i.,  278). 

The  "hidden  rock  on  which  the  Coalition  struck"  was  the  influence  of 
the  Crown"  {ante,  p.  207),  by  which,  when  Fox's  India  Bill  came  before 
the  House  of  Lords,  "a  troop  of  Lords  of  the  Bedchamber,  of  Bishops  who 
wished  to  be  translated,  and  of  Scotch  peers  who  wished  to  be  re-elected, 
made  haste  to  change  sides"  (Macaula3''s  Misc.  Writ.,  p.  407).  "The 
Bishops  waver,  and  the  Thanes  fly  from  us,"  Colonel  Fitzpatrick  had  written 
(Stanhope's  Pitt,  i.,  150).  To  borrow  Gibbon's  words,  "  Corruption,  the  most 
infallible  symptom  of  constitutional  liberty,  was  successfully  practised"  {The 
Decline,  ii.,  372). 

On  Dec.  3,  1783,  the  third  reading  of  the  Bill  had  been  carried  in  the 
House  of  Commons  by  208  to  102  {Pari.  Hist.,  xxiv. ,  61).  In  the  face  of  this 
majority  Pitt,  at  the  age  of  twenty-four,  became  Prime  Minister. 

On  Dec.  19,  Horace  Walpole  wrote  {Letters,  viii.,  446) :  "I  have  only  a 
moment's  time  to  tell  you  that,  at  one  this  morning,  His  Majesty  sent  to  Lord 
North  and  Mr.  Fox  for  their  seals  of  Secretary  of  State  ".  On  Jan.  24,  1784, 
Gibbon  wrote  to  Lord  Sheffield  :  "  I  most  sincerely  rejoice  that  I  left  the  ship, 
and  swam  ashore  on  a  plank"  {Cor res. ,  ii.,  92). 

"  Pitt's  contest  against  the  House  of  Commons  lasted  from  the  17th  of 
December,  1783,  to  the  8th  of  March,  1784.  In  sixteen  divisions  the  Opposi- 
tion triumphed.  ...  A  final  remonstrance,  drawn  up  by  Burke  with  admir- 
able skill,  was  carried  on  the  8th  of  March  b}r  a  single  vote  in  a  full  House. 
.  .  .  The  Parliament  was  dissolved.  ...  A  hundred  and  sixty  of  the 
supporters  of  the  coalition  lost  their  seats"  (Macaulay's  Misc.  Writings,  p. 
407). 


48.  LORD  MACAULAY  ON  GIBBON'S  "POVERTY"  (p.  215). 

Macaulay,  with  gross  exaggeration,  says,  "that  the  greatest  historian  of  the 
age,  forced  by  poverty  to  leave  his  country,  completed  his  immortal  work  on 
the  shores  of  Lake  Leman  "  (Misc.  Writings,  ed.  1871,  p.  413).      The  following 


330  APPENDIX 

facts  were  in  print  when  he  wrote  this.  Before  going  to  Lausanne  Gibbon 
wrote  to  Dey  verdun :  "  Je  d^penserais  sans  peine  et  sans  inconvenient  cinq 
ou  six  cents  Louis"  {Misc.  Works,  ii.,  297).  To  Lord  Sheffield  he  wrote: 
"In  a  four  years'  residence  at  Lausanne  I  should  live  within  my  income, 
save,  and  even  accumulate  my  ready  money  ;  finish  my  History,  an  object  of 
profit  as  well  as  fame,  expect  the  contingencies  of  elderly  lives,  and  return  to 
England  at  the  age  of  fifty  to  forma  lasting  independent  establishment" 
(ib.,  p.  306). 

To  Dr.  Robertson  he  wrote  :  "  This  exile  will  be  terminated  in  due  time 
by  the  deaths  of  aged  ladies,  whose  inheritance  will  place  me  in  an  easy  and 
even  affluent  situation  "  (Stewart's  Robertson,  p.  365).  One  of  these  aged 
ladies,  his  step-mother,  was  so  unreasonable  as  to  outlive  him ;  the  other,  his 
aunt,  left  him  an  estate  {Misc.  Works,  ii.,  432).  On  Nov.  14,  1783,  he  wrote 
from  Lausanne  :  "I  have  the  inclination  and  means  to  live  very  handsomely 
here"  {ib.,  p.  336).  On  March  21,  1785,  he  wrote  :  "  I  can  almost  promise  to 
land  in  England  next  September  twelve-month,  with  a  manuscript  of  the 
current  value  of  about  four  thousand  pounds"  {ib.,  p.  377).  (Gibbon  had 
written  "three  thousand"  (Corres.,  ii.,  126).  Lord  Sheffield,  I  infer,  gave 
the  amount  received. )  The  savings  effected  by  the  change  of  residence  were 
"  about  four  hundred  pounds  or  guineas  a  year"  (Misc.   Works,  ii.,  376). 

Lord  Sheffield,  accounting  for  his  residence  abroad,  said  :  "  He  was  not  in 
possession  of  an  income  which  corresponded  with  his  notions  of  ease  and 
comfort  in  his  own  country.  In  Switzerland  his  fortune  was  ample"  {ante, 
p.  247). 


49.  PRINCE  HENRY  OF  PRUSSIA  AND  MIRABEAU  (p.  222). 

Gibbon  wrote  of  Prince  Henry  :  ' '  He  is  certainly  (without  touching  his 
military  character)  a  very  lively  and  entertaining  companion.  He  talked 
with  freedom,  and  generally  with  contempt,  of  most  of  the  princes  of  Europe; 
with  respect  of  the  Empress  of  Russia  ;  but  never  mentioned  the  name  of  his 
brother  [Frederick  the  Great],  except  once,  when  he  hinted  that  it  was  he 
himself that  won  the  battle  of  Rossbach  "  (Corres.,  ii.,  117). 

"  His  brother  used  to  say,  glancing  towards  him,  '  There  is  but  one  of  us 
that  never  committed  a  mistake  '  "  (Carlyle's  Frederick  II.,  n.  d.,  viii. ,  211). 
The  only  mention  in  Carlyle's  History  of  him  at  Rossbach  is  in  the  King's 
letter,  who  wrote  :  "  My  brother  Henri  and  General  Seidlitz  have  slight  hurts 
in  the  arm  "  (ib.,  vii.  ,247).  Carlyle  describes  the  Prince's  visit  to  Paris  as 
"  a  shining  event  in  his  Life  ;  and  a  profitable  ;  poor  King  Louis, — what  was 
very  welcome  in  Henri's  state  of  finance — having,  in  a  delicate  Kingly  way, 
insinuated  into  him  a  '  gift  of  400,000  francs '  (£16,000),  partly  by  way  of 
retaining  fee  for  France  "  (ib.,  x.,  172). 

Mirabeau,  who  in  1786  was  sent  by  Calonne  to  Berlin,  "  in  some  semi- 
ostensible,  or  spy -diplomatist  character  "  (Carlyle's  Crit.  and  Misc.  Essays, 
n.  d.,  iv. ,  111),  published  in  1789,  under  the  title  of  Histoire  Secrete  de  la 
Cour  de  Berlin,  the  Correspondance  cfun  Voyageur  Francois,  1786-7,  as  an 
"  Ouvrage  Poslhume" .  "  It  is  diabolically  good,"  wrote  Gibbon  (Corres.,  ii. , 
192). 

Horace  Walpole  wrote  on  Feb.  24,  1789  (Letters,  ix.,  173) :  "  Of  Mirabeau's 
book  I  have  heard  of  nobody  that  has  got  a  copy  here  yet  but  the  Dutch 
minister,  and  he  the  first  volume  only.  The  papers  to-day  say  it  has  been 
burnt  at  Paris." 

"The  Prince's  character,"  wrote  Lord  Holland,  "is  admirably,  though 
somewhat  roughly,  drawn,"  by  Mirabeau  (Foreign  Reminiscences,  ed.  1850,  p. 
60). 

Mirabeau,  who  was  in  London  in  March,  1785,  wrote  to  Romilly  :  ' '  Vous 
saurez  que  j'ai  entendu  hier  M.   Gibbon  parler,  comme  un  des   plus  plats 


APPENDIX  331 

coquins  qui  existent,  sur  la  situation  politique  <le  l'Europe,  et  que  je  n'ai  pas 
(lit  un  mot,  quoique  des  la  premiere  phrase  de  M.  Gibbon,  sa  morgue  et  son 
air  insolent  m'eussent  infiniment  repousse".  It  might  be  thought  that  he 
had  mistaken  another  man  for  Gibbon  (who  was  at  this  time  at  Lausanne), 
had  he  not  gone  on  to  repeat  what  he  said  in  reply  when  asked  for  his 
opinion  by  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne  {Life  of  Romilly,  ed.  1840,  i.,  310). 
For  Sainte-Beuve's  criticism  of  what  Mirabeau  says  see  Causeries,  viii. ,  400. 

Gibbon,  who  met  Mirabeau's  father  in  1703,  wrote  of  him  :  "  Get  homme 
eat  singulier  ;  il  a  assez  d' imagination  pour  dix  autres,  et  pas  assez  de  sens 
rassis  pour  lui  seul"  [Misc.  Works,  i.,  103). 


50.  CHARLES  JAMES  FOX  AT  LAUSANNE  (p.  222). 

Gibbon  wrote  on  Oct.  4,  1788:  "I  have  eat,  and  drank,  and  conversed, 
and  sat  up  all  night  with  Fox  in  England  ;  but  it  never  has  happened,  perhaps 
it  never  can  happen  again,  that  I  should  enjoy  him,  as  I  did  that  day,  alone, 
from  ten  in  the  morning  till  ten  at  night.  We  had  little  politics  ;  though  he 
gave  me  in  a  few  words  such  a  character  of  Pitt  as  one  great  man  should  give 
of  another  his  rival ;  much  of  books,  from  my  own,  on  which  he  flattered  me 
very  pleasantly,  to  Homer  and  the  Arabian  Nights  ;  much  about  the  country, 
my  garden  (which  he  understands  far  better  than  I  do)  ;  and,  upon  the 
whole,  I  think  he  envies  me,  and  would  do  so  were  he  minister"  (Corres., 
ii.,  180).  He  was  accompanied  by  his  mistress,  whom  he  afterwards  married. 
Gibbon  wrote  :  "Will  Fox  never  know  the  importance  of  character?"  (lb. ) 

"  Let  Fox  do  what  he  will,"  wrote  Gibbon  in  1793,  "  I  must  love  the  dog  " 
(ib.,  ii.,  360). 

"  It  is  not  in  my  nature,"  said  Fox,  "  to  bear  malice,  or  to  live  in  ill-will  " 
(Pari.  Hist,  xxiii.,  487). 

Burke,  speaking  on  Feb.  9,  1790,  described  Fox  as  "of  the  most  artless, 
candid,  open,  and  benevolent  disposition  ;  disinterested  in  the  extreme  ;  of  a 
temper  mild  and  placable,  even  to  a  fault ;  without  one  drop  of  gall  in  his 
whole  constitution  "  (Burke's  Works,  ed.  1808,  v.,  11). 

Rogers  (Table-Talk,  p.  77)  reports  Fox  as  saying  that  during  his  visit  to 
Gibbon's  house  "Gibbon  talked  a  great  deal,  walking  up  and  down  the 
room,  and  generally  ending  his  sentences  with  a  genitive  case  ;  every  now 
and  then,  too,  casting  a  look  of  complacency  on  his  own  portrait  by  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds,  which  hung  over  the  chimney-piece — that  wonderful 
portrait,  in  which,  while  the  oddness  and  vulgarity  of  the  features  are  refined 
away,  the  likeness  is  perfectly  preserved  ". 

Horace  Walpole  (Letters,  vii.,  505)  mentions  Gibbon's  "vanity,  even  about 
his  ridiculous  face  and  person  " .  Some  years  earlier,  however,  he  had  written 
(ib.,  vi.,  311) :  "  I  know  him  a  little,  never  suspected  the  extent  of  his  talents, 
for  he  is  perfectly  modest,  or  I  want  penetration,  which  I  know  too". 


51.  THE  SUMMER-HOUSE  AT  LAUSANNE  (p.  225). 

The  last  lines  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  are  not  worthy  either  of  the  History 
itself  or  of  this  beautiful  passage.  He  ends  by  speaking  of  his  book  as  a 
work  "  which,  however  inadequate  to  my  own  wishes,  I  finally  deliver  to  the 
curiosity  and  candour  of  the  Public  ". 

To  the  kindness  of  the  Astronomer  Royal  I  owe  the  following  note,  which 
shows  the  age  of  the  moon  on  the  night  when  Gibbon,  having  laid  down  his 
pen,  saw  "  the  silver  orb  reflected  from  the  waters  "  :  "The  moon  was  new 
June  15d  3h  50m,  G.  M.  T.,  and  full  June  30d  2h  38m,  in  the  year  1787. 
Between  11  and  12  in  the  evening,  local  time  of  Lausanne,  therefore,  the 


332  APPENDIX 

Moon  was  I2d  7h  old,  or  2d  15Jh  short  of  the  full.  The  Moon  was  on  the 
Meridian  of  Lausanne  about  10  minutes  to  10,  local  time,  on  the  evening  of 
June  27,  1787."  Rogers,  who  was  at  Lausanne  with  Mackintosh  in  1814, 
said  :  "  My  sister  and  I  went  to  see  Gibbon's  house  ;  and  borrowing  the  last 
volume  of  the  Decline  and  Fall,  we  read  the  concluding  passages  of  it  on 
the  very  spot  where  they  were  written.  But  such  an  amusement  was  not  to 
Mackintosh's  taste ;  he  meanwhile  was  trotting  about,  and  making  inquiries 
concerning  the  salaries  of  professors,  &c. "  (Rogers's  Table-Talk,  p.  196). 
"We  ran  to  Gibbon's  house,"  wrote  Mackintosh.  "We  went  into  la 
Gibboniere,  the  little  summer-house  where  he  wrote  his  History,  which  is  now 
somewhat  dilapidated"  {Life  of  Mackintosh,  ii.,  305). 

Lord  Byron  wrote  to  John  Murray  on  June  27,  181G  :  "I  enclose  you  a 
sprig  of  Gibbon's  acacia  and  some  rose-leaves  from  his  garden,  which,  with 
part  of  his  house,  I  have  just  seen.  You  will  find  honourable  mention,  in  his 
Life,  made  of  this  acacia,  when  he  walked  out  on  the  night  of  concluding  his 
history.  The  garden  and  summer-house,  where  he  composed,  are  neglected, 
and  the  last  utterly  decayed  ;  but  they  still  show  it  as  his  "  cabinet,"  and 
seem  perfectly  aware  of  his  memory"  (Moore's  Life  of  Byron,  ed.  1860,  p. 
308). 

General  Read,  who  visited  Gibbon's  house,  La  Grotte,  in  1879,  sa)-s  that 
its  site  is  now  occupied  by  the  new  Post  Office.  The  proprietor  of  the  Hotel 
Gibbon,  which  was  built  at  an  earlier  date  on  part  of  the  property,  "attracted 
attention  to  the  hotel  garden  and  its  historical  associations,  with  the  approval 
of  the  owners  of  La  Grotte,  who  thus  escaped  the  former  horde  of  sight- 
seers ".  An  old  lady  who  lived  there  from  1802  to  1831  told  the  General  that 
' '  for  nearly  a  generation  the  pilgrimage  of  visitors  was  continuous.  As  every 
English  visitor  cut  away  a  portion,  the  summer-house  gradually  disappeared 
from  Lausanne,  and  was  distributed  in  fragments  through  Great  Britain.  Bit 
by  bit  the  owners  renewed  it,  but  eventually  not  a  morsel  of  the  original  was 
left.  The  real  had  given  way  to  a  copy."  The  copy  disappeared  also.  "A 
little  later  the  guides  began  to  point  out  the  venerable  Madame  Grenier,  if 
she  chanced  to  be  in  the  garden,  as  Gibbon's  widow.  Gradually  this  cult  was 
forgotten,  and  the  pilgrimages  had  long  ceased  when  I  first  reached  the  city." 
(They  had  been  diverted  to  the  hotel. )  An  interesting  view  is  given  of  the 
street-front  of  the  house,  where  it  is  only  one  storey  high,  with  a  lofty  and 
steep  roof.  On  the  southern  side  it  had  three  stories.  "  It  originally  formed 
a  portion  of  St.  Francis  Convent.  In  the  gigantic  garrets,"  continues  the 
General,  "  I  found  parchments,  diplomas,  titles  of  nobility,  portraits  in  oil, 
engravings,  .  .  .  the  remains  of  Gibbon's  theatre  ;  in  fact,  the  odds  and  ends 
of  a  family  life  of  three  or  four  hundred  years.  Here  were  letters  of  Vol- 
taire, Rousseau,  Chesterfield,  Necker,  De  Stael,  and  Gibbon"  {Hist.  Studies, 
i.,  1-10). 


52.  LORD  SHEFFIELD  ON  THE  AMERICAN  TRADE  (p.  226). 

Observations  on  the  Commerce  of  the  American  States,  by  John,  Lord 
Sheffield  ;  the  sixth  edition ;  London,  1784  ;  in  octavo  (Footnote  by  Gibbon). 
It  was  reviewed  in  the  Gent.  Mag.,  Sept.,  1783,  p.  770,  where  it  is  stated 
that  "Pitt's  bill  for  the  provisional  establishment  of  trade  and  intercourse 
between  Great  Britain  and  America  undoubtedly  gave  rise  to  it".  "Pitt 
desired  to  treat  the  United  States  on  points  of  commerce  nearly  as  though 
they  had  been  still  dependent  colonies"  (Stanhope's  Pitt,  i.,  110).  For  his 
American  hitercourse  Bill  see  Pari.  Hist.,  xxiii.,  602,  640,  724,  894  ;  Observa- 
tions, pp.  3,  280.  Lord  Sheffield  wrote  on  Jan.  16,  1792:  "British-built 
commercial  tonnage  since  1773  has  increased  318,522  tons,  which  is  more  than 
three-fourths  of  the  whole  commercial  tonnage  of  France.  Thanks  to  that 
illustrious  writer,  the  Lord  Sheffield"  (Corj-es.,  ii.,  288). 


APPENDIX  333 

Hume,  at  the  beginning  of  the  contest  with  our  American  colonies,  had 
said  that  "a  forced,  and  every  day  more  precarious,  monopoly  of  about  six 
or  seven  hundred  thousand  pounds  a  year  of  manufactures,  was  not  worth 
contending  for ;  that  we  should  preserve  the  greater  part  of  this  trade,  even 
if  the  ports  of  America  were  open  to  all  nations  "  (Hume's  Letters  to  Strahan, 
p.  288).  The  total  declared  exports  from  England  to  America  were  said,  in 
1768,  to  amount  to  £2,072,000,  and  the  imports  to  £1,081,000  (ii.,  p.  292).  In 
1897  the  exports  from  the  United  Kingdom  were  close  on  £38,000,000,  and 
the  imports  were  £113,000,000  (Whitaker's  Almanack,  p.  588). 

For  Adam  Smith's  defence  of  the  Navigation  Act,  see  Wealth  of  Nations, 
bk.  iv.,  chap.  2  (ed.  1811,  ii.,  254).  The  Act  was  repealed  in  most  of  its  pro- 
visions in  1849  by  the  12  and  13  Vict.,  c.  29.  With  "the  palladium  "  lost, 
our  shipping  has  grown  so  rapidly  that  the  tonnage  is  almost  equal  to  that  of 
all  the  other  countries  of  the  world  :  with  our  colonies  thrown  in,  it  more 
than  equals  it  (Whitaker's  Almanack,  1899,  p.  726). 


53.  LORD  SHEFFIELD  ON  THE  TPvADE  OF  IRELAND  (p.  227). 

The  trade  of  Ireland  was  throttled  by  the  selfish  policy  of  England.  In 
1784  an  attempt,  backed  by  the  Irish  mob,  was  made  to  exclude  English 
goods,  and  "to  force  the  home-consumption  by  non-importation  agreements". 
Pitt,  a  disciple  of  Adam  Smith,  wished  to  give  Ireland  a  far  freer  trade.  He 
required  from  Ireland  a  return  which  the  clamour  even  of  his  own  party  forced 
him  to  increase,  and  which  the  Irish  were  unwilling  to  grant.  The  Lancashire 
manufacturers  were  scared  at  the  advantages  Ireland  would  have  in  the  low 
price  of  labour.  Fox  stood  forward  as  "the  champion  of  high  protective 
duties".  At  Manchester,  he  was  attended  into  the  town,  he  wrote,  "by  a 
procession  as  fine,  and  not  unlike  that  upon  my  chairing  in  Westminster  ". 

Pitt  carried  resolutions  through  the  English  Parliament  for  the  basis  of  a 
commercial  arrangement  between  the  two  countries.  A  correspondent  bill 
being  carried  in  the  Irish  House  of  Commons  by  only  127  to  10S,  was  dropped 
(Ann.  Reg.,  1786,  i.,  10-24  ;  Stanhope's  Pitt,  i.,  261-75). 

Lord  Sheffield  was  ready  to  remove  all  restraints  on  Irish  manufactures, 
provided  England  retained  the  monopoly  of  the  colonial  trade  (Observations, 
&c,  Preface,  p.  8,  and  p.  382).  Gibbon  wrote  to  him  on  Sept.  5,  1785:  "Of 
Ireland  I  know  nothing,  and  while  I  am  writing  the  decline  of  a  great  Empire, 
I  have  not  leisure  to  attend  to  the  affairs  of  a  remote  and  petty  province" 
(Corres.,  ii.,  136). 

Lord  Sheffield's  "concluding  observations"  begin:  " The  most  successful 
of  our  political  writers  are  those  who  assert  roundly  that  the  public  interests 
are  irretrievably  sunk  into  distress  and  misery.  There  is  the  greatest  disposi- 
tion in  the  people  to  be  convinced  that  such  doctrines  are  just ;  and  they 
greedily  adopt  maxims  which  seem  rather  formed  to  prepare  us  for  another 
world  than  to  reconcile  us  to  that  in  which  we  are  placed  "  (p.  351). 


54.  LORD  SHEFFIELD'S  ELECTION  FOR  BRISTOL  (p.  227). 

Gibbon  wrote  to  Lord  Sheffield  on  Aug.  7,  1790  :  ' '  The  second  commercial 
city  invites  from  a  distant  province  an  independent  gentleman,  known  oi\\j 
by  his  active  spirit  and  his  writings  on  the  subject  of  trade,  and  names  him 
without  intrigue  or  expense  for  her  representative"  (Corres.,  ii.,  219).  The 
election  was  not  without  expense.  "I  subscribed,"  Lord  Sheffield  wrote, 
"somewhat  above  £300  to  Infirmary,  Magdalens,  Small  Debtors,  &c."  (ib.,  p. 
218).  The  invitation  was,  in  all  likelihood,  disgraceful  both  to  Bristol  and 
Lord   Sheffield.      That  city  rivalled  Liverpool  as  a  seat  of  the  slave-trade, 


334  APPENDIX 

against  which  the  conscience  of  England  was  now  rising.  Shortly  before  the 
election  he  had  published  Observations  on  the  Project  for  abolishing  the  Slave 
Trade.  Gibbon  wrote  to  him  on  May  15,  1790  :  "  You  have  such  a  knack  of 
turning  a  nation  that  I  am  afraid  you  will  triumph  (perhaps  by  the  force  of 
argument)  over  justice  and  humanity.  But  do  you  not  expect  to  work  at 
Beelzebub's  sugar  plantations  in  the  infernal  regions,  under  the  tender  govern- 
ment of  a  negro-driver?"  (lb.,  ii.,  217.)  On  April  17,  1791,  Sheffield  spoke 
against  Wilberforce's  motion  for  the  abolition  of  the  trade  (Pari.  Hist.,  xxix., 
358-9).  Four  days  later  he  wrote  of  the  debate  :  "I  was  a  considerable  prop 
to  good  sense  against  nonsense,  and  the  most  eloquent  declamation  on 
humanity"  (Corres.,  ii.,  245). 

On  April  2,  1792,  a  motion  was  carried  for  the  gradual  abolition  of  the 
slave-trade  (Pari.  Hist.,  xxix.,  1158).  Gibbon  wrote  to  Lord  Sheffield  on  May 
30:  "  What  is  the  cause  of  this  alteration?  If  it  proceeded  only  from  an 
impulse  of  humanity  I  cannot  be  displeased  even  with  an  error  ;  since  it  is 
very  likely  that  my  own  vote  would  have  been  added  to  the  majority.  But 
in  this  rage  against  slavery,  in  the  numerous  petitions  against  the  slave  trade, 
was  there  no  leaven  of  new  democratical  principles  ?  no  wild  ideas  of  the 
rights  and  natural  equality  of  man  ?    It  is  these  I  fear  "  (Corres.,  ii.,  297). 

"Sixty  thousand  blacks  are  annually  embarked  from  the  coast  of  Guinea, 
never  to  return  to  their  native  country,  but  they  are  embarked  in  chains  ;  and 
this  constant  emigration  .  .  .  accuses  the  guilt  of  Europe  and  the  weakness  of 
Africa"  (The  Decline,  iii.,  52). 

"The  last  abomination  of  the  abominable  slave-trade  "  (ib.,  vi.,  78). 

The  slave-trade  was  abolished  by  the  Whigs  in  1806.  Had  it  not  been  for 
George  III.  it  would  have  been  abolished  many  years  earlier  (Lord  Holland's 
Memoirs,  &c,  ii.,  157;  Stanhope's  Pitt,  i.,  370  ;"ii.,  146  ;  iii.,  186  ;  iv.,  202). 


55.  SHERIDAN'S  COMPLIMENT  TO  GIBBON  (p.  228). 

Mr.  Sheridan  said  the  facts  that  made  up  the  volume  of  narrative  were 
unparalleled  in  atrociousness,  and  that  nothing  equal  in  criminality  was  to  be 
traced,  either  in  ancient  or  modern  history,  in  the  correct  periods  of  Tacitus, 
or  the  luminous  pages  of  Gibbon  (Morning  Chronicle,  June  14,  1788)  (Footnote 
by  Lord  Sheffield). 

"Yesterday,"  wrote  Gibbon,  "the  august  scene  was  closed  for  the 
year.  Sheridan  surpassed  himself.  .  .  .  There  were  many  beautiful 
passages  in  his  speech,  .  .  .  and  a  compliment  much  admired  to  a  certain 
Historian  of  your  acquaintance.  Sheridan,  in  the  close  of  his  speech,  sunk 
into  Burke's  arms ; — a  good  actor  ;  but  I  called  this  morning,  he  is  perfectly 
well.     A  good  Actor  !  "  (Corres.,  ii.,  172.) 

"I  was  present,"  said  Rogers,  "on  the  second  day  of  the  trial;  when 
Sheridan  was  listened  to  with  such  attention  that  you  might  have  heard  a  pin 
drop.  During  one  of  those  days  Sheridan,  having  observed  Gibbon  among  the 
audience,  took  occasion  to  mention  '  the  luminous  author  of  The  Decline  and 
Fall'.  After  he  had  finished,  one  of  his  friends  reproached  him  with  flatter- 
ing Gibbon.  '  Why,  what  did  I  say  of  him  ? '  asked  Sheridan.  '  You  called 
him  the  luminous  author, '  &c.  '  Luminous  !  oh,  I  meant  voluminous  '  ' ' 
(Rogers's  Table-Talk,   p.  63). 

Sir  Gilbert  Elliot  (first  Earl  of  Minto)  wrote  on  June  14,  1788  :  "Burke 
caught  Sheridan  in  his  arms  as  he  sat  down.  ...  I  have  myself  enjoyed  that 
embrace  on  such  an  occasion,  and  know  its  value"  (Life  and  Letters  of  Sir 
Gilbert  Elliot,  &c,  1874,  i.,  218).  The  editor,  Elliot's  great-niece,  the 
Countess  of  Minto,  says:  "It  is  often  related  that  at  the  close  of  the 
sentence  the  orator  turned  to  a  friend,  and  whispered,  '  I  said  voluminous  '. 
The  author  of  the  joke  was  Dudley  Long,  who  was  sitting  next  to  Gibbon  in 


APPENDIX  335 

the  gallery.  Gibbon,  as  Long  thought  for  the  gratification  of  hearing  the 
compliment  again,  asked  his  neighbour  to  tell  him  exactly  what  Sheridan 
had  said.  'Oh,'  said  Long,  'he  said  something  about  your  voluminous 
pages ' .  Lord  Russell,  on  whose  authority  we  give  the  story,  was  told  it  by 
Dudley  Long  himself." 

On  June  19  Gibbon  dined  with  Hastings  "by  special  desire"  {Corres.,  ii., 
173).     They  had  been  school-fellows  for  a  short  time  at  Westminster. 


56.  WILLIAM  HAYLEY  (p.  230). 

An  Essay  on  History  in  Three  Epistles,  to  Edward  Gibbon,  Esq.  London, 
1780  ;  4°.  It  seems  almost  incredible  that  Gibbon  should  have  been  pleased 
with  such  verses  as  the  following  : — 

"Yet  while  Polemics,  in  fierce  league  combin'd 
With  savage  discord  vex  thy  feeling  mind, 
And  rashly  stain  Religion's  just  defence 
By  gross  detraction  and  perverted  sense, 
Thy  wounded  ear  may  haply  not  refuse 
The  soothing  accents  of  an  humbler  Muse 

(Epis.,  i.,  1.  17). 

"(May,  1780.)  There  are  just  appeared  three  new  Epistles  on  History, 
addressed  to  Mr.  Gibbon  by  Mr.  Hayley.  They  are  good  poems,  I  believe, 
weight  and  measure,  but,  except  some  handsome  new  similes,  have  little 
poetry  and  less  spirit.  In  short,  they  are  written  by  Judgment,  who  has  set 
up  for  herself,  forgetting  that  her  business  is  to  correct  verses,  and  not  to 
write  them  "  (Walpole's  Letters,  vii.,  361). 

On  July  3,  1782,  Gibbon  wrote  of  the  poet:  "He  rises  with  his  subject, 
and  since  Pope's  death  I  am  satisfied  that  England  has  not  seen  so  happy  a 
mixture  of  strong  sense  and  flowing  numbers"  (Corres.,  ii.,  17).  For  the 
lines  written  by  Porson  in  ridicule  of  Hayley — "poetarum  et  criticorum 
pessimus,"  as  he  called  him — see  Jok?isonian  Misc.,  ii.,  420. 

For  other  stanzas  of  Hayley  in  praise  of  Gibbon  see  Gibbon's  Misc.  Works, 
i.,  260. 


57.  CRITICISMS  OF  THE  DECLINE  AND  FALL  (p.  231). 

"  (Nov.  8,  1789.)  Mr.  Gibbon  never  tires  me.  He  comprises  a  vast  body 
and  period  of  history  too  ;  however,  I  do  wish  he  had  been  as  lucid  as  Vol- 
taire, or,  to  speak  more  justly,  that  he  had  arranged  his  matter  better" 
(Walpole's  Letters,  ix.,  235). 

' '  Gibbon' s  style  is  detestable,  but  his  style  is  not  the  worst  thing  about 
him.  His  history  has  proved  an  effectual  bar  to  all  real  familiarity  with  the 
temper  and  habits  of  imperial  Rome.  .  .  .  His  work  is  little  else  but  a  dis- 
guised collection  of  all  the  splendid  anecdotes  which  he  could  find  in  any  book 
concerning  any  persons  or  nations  from  the  Antonines  to  the  capture  of  Con- 
stantinople. When  I  read  a  chapter  in  Gibbon  I  seem  to  be  looking  through 
a  luminous  haze  or  fog  : — figures  come  and  go,  I  know  not  how  or  why,  all 
larger  than  life,  or  distorted  or  discoloured  ;  nothing  is  real,  vivid,  true  ;  all  is 
scenical,  and,  as  it  were,  exhibited  by  candle  light"  (Coleridge's  Table-Talk, 
ed.  1884,  p.  245). 

"(Feb.,  1823.)  Gibbon  is  a  kind  of  bridge  that  connects  the  antique  with 
the  modern  ages.  And  how  gorgeously  does  it  swing  across  the  gloomy  and 
tumultuous  chasm  of  those  barbarous  centuries.    .    .  .    The  perusal  of  his 


336  APPENDIX 

work  forms  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  one's  mind  "  (Early  Letters  of  Carlvle, 
ii.,  180). 

Mackintosh  said  in  1830  that  "Gibbon's  accuracy  was  such  as  justly  to 
elevate  him  to  the  rank  of  a  great  authority  as  an  historian  ;  and  at  times  he 
is  an  excellent  narrator, — for  instance,  in  his  account  of  Julian's  march,  and 
of  the  taking  of  Constantinople.  The  cause  of  his  being  so  ill  remembered  is 
that  he  often  insinuates  instead  of  relating.  Addison  and  Swift  are  now  not 
read  at  all ;  Johnson  and  Gibbon  very  rarely  "  {Life  of  Mackintosh,  ii.,  476). 

' '  I  venture  to  assert  that  no  work  in  prose,  since  the  time  of  Titus  Livius, 
is  equal  to  Gibbon's  History.  There  is  somewhat  of  palatial  magnitude  and 
of  Oriental  splendour  in  it ;  nothing  disorderly,  nothing  overcharged 
(Landor's  Imag.  Conver.,  ed.  C.  G.  Crump,  v.,  15). 

"Grote  said  he  had  tested  Gibbon's  trustworthiness  on  several  points,  by 
reference  to  ancient  writers,  and  invariably  found  his  statements  correct  and 
candid.  ...  He  remarked  upon  the  excellent  judgment,  the  just  apprecia- 
tion of  historical  incidents,  the  freedom  from  bias  on  personal  preferences,  the 
faculty  of  discernment  in  sifting  the  bearing  of  evidence,  also  the  vigour  of 
expression  of  Gibbon  ;  adding,  however,  his  objection  to  the  style  in  which 
the  book  is  written.  '  There  is  but  one  Gibbon,'  he  said  "  [Life  of  Grote,  ed. 
1873,  p.  296). 

Sainte-Beuve  quotes  with  approval  Guizot's  admiration  in  Gibbon  of 
'  Timmeiisite-  des  recherches,  la  vari^te'  des  connaissances,  l'dtendue  des 
lumieres,  et  surtout  cette  justesse  vraiment  philosophique  d'un  esprit  qui  juge 
le  pass6  comme  il  jugerait  le  present,'  et  qui,  a  travers  la  forme  extraordi- 
naire et  imprevue  des  moeurs,  des  coutumes  et  des  eVenements,  a  l'art  de 
retrouver  dans  tous  les  temps  les  memes  hommes  "  (Causeries,  viii.,  453). 

Mr.  John  Morley  {Miscellanies,  ed.  1886,  iii.,  49),  recording  a  talk  he  had 
with  John  Mill  in  1873,  writes:  "He  greatly  dislikes  the  style  of  Junius 
and  of  Gibbon  ;  indeed,  thinks  meanly  of  the  latter  in  all  respects,  except  for 
his  research ,  which  alone  of  the  work  of  that  century  stands  the  test  of  nine- 
teenth century  criticism  ". 


58.  PORSON'S  CRITICISM  (p.  231). 

"His  industry  is  indefatigable;  his  accuracy  scrupulous;  his  reading, 
which  indeed  is  sometimes  ostentatiously  displayed,  immense  ;  his  attention 
always  awake  ;  his  memory  retentive  ;  his  style  emphatic  and  expressive  ;  his 
periods  harmonious.  His  reflections  are  often  just  and  profound  ;  he  pleads 
eloquently  for  the  rights  of  mankind,  and  the  duty  of  toleration  ;  nor  does  his 
humanity  ever  slumber,  unless  when  women  are  ravished  \  or  the  Christians 
persecuted2.  .  .  .  I  confess  that  I  see  nothing  wrong  in  Mr.  Gibbon's  attack 
on  Christianity.  It  proceeded,  I  doubt  not,  from  the  purest  and  most  virtuous 
motive.  We  can  only  blame  him  for  carrying  on  the  attack  in  an  insidious 
manner,  and  with  improper  weapons.  He  often  makes,  when  he  cannot 
readily  find,  an  occasion  to  insult  our  religion ;  which  he  hates  so  cordially 
that  he  might  seem  to  revenge  some  personal  injury.  Such  is  his  eagerness  in 
the  cause  that  he  stoops  to  the  most  despicable  pun,  or  to  the  most  awkward 
perversion  of  language,  for  the  purpose  of  turning  the  Scripture ;!  into  ribaldry, 
or  of  calling  Jesus  4  an  impostor.  ...  A  less  pardonable  fault  is  that  rage  for 
indecency  which  pervades  the  whole  work,  but  especially  the  last  volumes. 
And,  to  the  honour  of  his  consistency,  this  is  the  same  man  who  is  so  prudish 

1  Chapter  Ivii. ,  note  54  [vii. ,  250,  n.  61.] 

2  See  the  whole  sixteenth  chapter. 

3  Chapter  lix. ,  note  32  [vi. ,  333,  n.  36]. 

4  Chapter  xi. ,  note  63  [i. ,  305,  n.  70]. 


APPENDIX  337 

that  he  dares  not  call  Belisarius  a  cuckold,  because  it  is  too  bad  a  word  for  a 
decent  historian  to  use  \_T he  Decline,  iv.,  335].  If  the  history  were  anony- 
mous, I  should  guess  that  these  disgraceful  obscenities  were  written  by  some 
debauchee,  who  having  from  age,  or  accident,  or  excess,  survived  the  practice 
of  lust,  still  indulged  himself  in  the  luxury  of  speculation  ;  and  exposed  the 
impotent  imbecility  after  he  had  lost  the  vigour  of  the  passions  [Junius,  Letter 
xxiii.]"  (Letters  to  Travis,  Preface,  p.  28). 

The  slumbers  of  Gibbon's  humanity  were  more  extended  than  Porson 
represents.  In  the  first  volume  of  The  Decline  he  expatiates  on  the  "amiable 
character  "  of  the  elder  Gordian  ;  on  his  "  mild  administration,"  and  on  the 
"elegant  taste  and  beneficent  disposition"  which  "he  displayed  in  the 
enjoyment  of  a  great  estate  ".  "  His  long  life,"  he  adds,  "was  innocently 
spent  in  the  study  of  letters  and  the  peaceful  honours  of  Rome".  This 
amiableness,  this  mildness,  this  elegance,  this  beneficence,  this  studious  and 
peaceful  innocence  was  not  inconsistent  with  the  slaughter  of  thousands  of 
gladiators.  "The  public  shows  exhibited  at  his  expense,  and  in  which  the 
people  were  entertained  with  many  hundreds  of  wild  beasts  and  gladiators, 
seem  to  surpass  the  fortune  of  a  subject;  and  whilst  the  liberality  of  other 
magistrates  was  confined  to  a  few  solemn  festivals  in  Rome,  the  magnificence 
of  Gordian  was  repeated,  when  he  was  ffidile,  every  month  in  the  year,  and 
extended,  during  his  consulship,  to  the  principal  cities  of  Italy.  He  some- 
times gave  five  hundred  pair  of  gladiators,  never  less  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty"  (T/te  Decline,  i.,  175). 

In  describing  the  Roman  triumph,  when  Kings  were  led  "  to  an  igno- 
minious death, ' '  Gibbon  exhibits  all  the  unf eelingness  of  the  sentimentalist. 
"  When  the  citizen  cast  his  eye  on  the  vanquished  Kings  dragged  in  triumph, 
his  own  pride  triumphed  at  once  over  them  and  insulted  humanity.  But  if  a 
sentiment  of  compassion  overcame  his  stern  prejudices,  and  he  melted  at  the 
sight  of  a  fallen  monarch  and  his  innocent  children  still  unconscious  of  their 
misfortune,  his  tenderness  must  have  been  rewarded  with  that  delightful  pleasure 
■with  which  nature  repays  such  tears"  [the  italics  are  mine]  (Misc.  Works,  iv., 
390). 

"  Gibbon  has  but  a  coarse  and  vulgar  heart,  with  all  his  keen  logic,  and 
glowing  imagination,  and  lordly  irony  :  he  worships  power  and  splendour ; 
and  suffering  virtue,  the  most  heroic  devotedness  if  unsuccessful,  unarrayed 
in  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  outward  glory,  has  little  of  his  sympathy  " 
(Early  Letters  of  Carlyle,  ii.,  180). 


59.    LOUIS  XVI.,  THE  SUPPOSED  TRANSLATOR  OF  THE  DECLINE 

AND  FALL  (p.  232). 

Querard  in  Les  Supercheries  Littiraires  D&voile'es,  1870,  ii.,  723,  has  the 
following  entry:  "  Le  Clerc  de  Sept-Chenes,  prete-nom  (Louis  XVI.,  roi  de 
France).  Histoire  de  la  ddcadence,  &c,  par  Gibbon  (traduction  commencee 
par  Louis  XVI.,  sous  le  nom  de  M.  Le  Clerc  de  Sept-Chenes  ;  continued,  des 
le  quatrieme  tome,  par  MM.  Demeunier  et  Boulard,  finie  par  MM.  Cantwel 
et  Marini6,  et  revue,  quant  aux  derniers  volumes,  par  M.  Boulard).  Paris, 
Moutard  et  Maradan,  1777-95,  18  vol.,  in-8. 

Extrait  du  Roi  martyr,  ou  Esquisse  du  portrait  de  Louis  XVI.  .  .  .  "Apres 
en  avoir  traduit  cinq  volumes,  M.  le  Dauphin,  ne  voulant  pas  etre  connu, 
chargea  M.  Le  Clerc  de  Sept-Chenes,  son  lecteur  du  cabinet,  de  les  faire 
imprimer  sous  son  nom".  Two  years  later  a  splendidly-bound  copy  of  the 
book  from  the  translator  was  given  by  the  Count  de  Vergennes  to  the  Abb6 
Aubert,  who  had  passed  the  manuscript  as  censor.  "  Sur  1' observation  du 
censeur  que  M.  de  Sept-Chenes  aurait  pu  se  dispenser  de  la  magnificence  de 
la  reliure,  M.  de  Vergennes  lui  dit :  '  C'est  M.  le  Dauphin  qui  est  le  veritable 
traducteur,  et  qui  m'a  charge'  de  vous  faire  ce  cadeau  en  son  nom'.     'Nous 

22 


338  APPENDIX 

tenons  cette  anecdote  de  l'abb6  Aubert  lui-meme.'     A.  A.  B — r  [Ant.  Alex. 
Barbier]." 

Sainte-Beuve  believed  in  this  story.  "  On  a  su  depuis,  que  cette  traduction 
a  laquelle  Septchenes  mit  son  nom,  6tait  en  partie  de  Louis  XVI."  (Cau- 
series,  &c,  viii.,  454). 

One  part  of  the  story  is  so  manifestly  untrue  that  I  distrust  it  altogether. 
In  this  anecdote  Louis  XVI.  is  spoken  of  as  "M.  le  Dauphin"  two  years 
after  the  publication  of  the  first  part  of  the  French  translation.  He  became 
King  on  May  10,  1774,  nearly  two  years  before  the  first  volume  was  published 
in  English,  and  three  years  before  the  French  publication  began.  Moreover, 
the  five  volumes  which  he  is  said  to  have  translated  must  have  included  the 
second  portion  of  the  History,  which  was  not  published  till  1781. 

Of  Septchenes' s  translation,  Gibbon  wrote  that  "  it  is  admirably  well  done  " 
(Corres.,  i.,  296).  "It  has  been  corrected  and  re-edited  by  Guizot"  (The 
Decline,  ed.  Milman,  1854,  i.,  124). 

In  the  Almanack  Royal,  1781,  p.  119,  in  the  "Maison  du  Roi,"  among  the 
"  Secretaires  de  la  Chambre  et  du  Cabinet,"  is  entered  : — 

"  (1771.)    M.  le  Clerc  des  Sept-Chenes  en  surviv  [ance~\." 


60.  GIBBON'S  LOVE  OF  LAUSANNE  (p.  233). 

' '  I  shall  soon  visit  the  banks  of  the  Lake  of  Lausanne,  a  country  which  I 
have  known  and  loved  from  my  early  youth.  Under  a  mild  government, 
amidst  a  beauteous  landscape,  in  a  life  of  leisure  and  independence,  and 
among  a  people  of  easy  and  elegant  manners,  I  have  enjoyed,  and  may  again 
hope  to  enjoy,  the  varied  pleasures  of  retirement  and  society.  But  I  shall 
ever  glory  in  the  name  and  character  of  an  Englishman."  The  Decline, 
Preface,  p.  12. 

In  his  glorying  he  copies  George  III. ,  who,  in  his  first  speech  to  his  Par- 
liament, said  :  ''  I  glory  in  the  name  of  Briton  "  (Boswell's  Johnson,  i. ,  353,  n.). 
George  III.,  in  his  turn,  copied  Milton's  Satan,  who  said,  "I  glory  in  the 
name  ' '  of  Satan  (Paradise  Lost,  x. ,  386). 

Miss  Holroyd,  on  Oct.  29,  1792,  writing  of  the  threatened  invasion  of 
Switzerland  by  the  French,  says  :  "  They  would  not  do  Mr.  Gibbon  any 
harm,  being  'uri  Anglais,'  which  name  he  will  now  probably  condescend  to 
make  use  of,  and  not  talk  so  much  of  'nous  Suisses  '  as  he  did"  (Girlhood, 
&c,  p.  203).  See  also  Cor  res.,  ii.,  373,  where  Lord  Sheffield  writes  to  him  as 
a  Swiss  :  "You  do  not  deserve  to  be  a  nation,"  &c. 

Gibbon  generally  speaks  of  the  Lake  as  the  Leman  Lake,  and  not,  as  here, 
of  the  Lake  of  Lausanne.  In  The  Decline,  vi.,  333,  writing  of  St.  Bernard,  he 
says  :  ' '  The  disciples  of  the  Saint  record  a  marvellous  example  of  his  pious 
apathy.  '  Juxta  Lacum  etiam  Lausannensem  totius  diei  itinere  pergens, 
penitus  non  attendit,  aut  se  videre  non  vidit.  Cum  enim  vespere  facto  de 
eodem  lacu  socii  colloquerentur,  interrogabat  eos  ubi  lacus  ille  esset ;  et  mirati 
sunt  universi.'  To  admire  or  despise  St.  Bernard  as  he  ought,  the  reader,  like 
myself,  should  have  before  the  windows  of  his  library  the  beauties  of  that 
incomparable  landscape." 


61.  GIBBON'S  LIBRARY  (p.  234). 

Lord  Sheffield  reproached  Gibbon  with  his  "damned,  parson-minded, 
inglorious  idea  of  leaving  books  to  be  sold".  It  was  to  Sheffield  Place  they 
should  be  left,  "to  be  handed  down  seris  nepotibus  [Ovid,  Meta.,  vi.,  138]  as 
the  Gibbonian  Library  ".  Gibbon  replied:  "I  consider  a  public  sale  as  the 
most  laudable  method  of  disposing  of  it.     From  such  sales  my  books  were 


APPENDIX  339 

chiefly  collected"  (Corres.,  ii.,  2%,  301).  In  his  library  in  Bentinck  Street  his 
l>ooks  had  stood  two  deep  on  the  shelves  (ii.,  ii. ,  48).  The  carriage  of  it  back 
to  England  might,  Sheffield  thought,  cost  £400  (ii.,  ii.,  302). 

Beckford,  the  author  of  Vathek,  said  to  Cyrus  Redding:  "I  bought 
Gibbon's  library  to  have  something  to  read  when  I  passed  through  Lausanne. 
I  shut  myself  up  for  six  weeks  from  early  in  the  morning  until  night,  only 
now  and  then  taking  a  ride.  The  people  thought  me  mad.  I  read  myself 
nearly  blind.  I  made  a  present  of  the  library  to  my  physician  [Dr.  Scholl] " 
(New  Monthly  Mag.,  1844,  ii.,  307). 

Miss  Berry  recorded  at  Lausanne  on  July  6,  1803:  "  Went  to  the  library 
of  Mr.  Gibbon  ;  it  still  remains  here,  though  bought  seven  years  ago  by  Mr. 
Beckford  for  £950.  Of  all  the  libraries  I  ever  saw  it  is  that  which  seems 
exactly  everything  that  any  gentleman  or  gentlewoman  fond  of  letters  could 
wish.  The  books  are  placed  in  two  small  and  inconvenient  rooms  hired  for 
the  purpose.  Mr.  Beckford  packed  up  about  2,500  volumes  in  two  cases,  which 
he  proposed  sending  to  England  directly,  but  which  still  remain  in  their 
cases"  (Miss  Berry's  Journal,  &c. ,  ed.  1806,  ii. ,  200). 

Henry  Matthews,  in  1818,  found  it  in  the  same  state — "locked  up  in  an 
uninhabited  house  at  Lausanne  "  (Dairy  of  an  Invalid,  ed.  1820,  p.  316). 

According  to  the  account  given  to  General  Read  in  1879  by  Dr.  Scholl' s 
daughter,  Beckford,  after  taking  away  a  few  volumes,  left  the  remainder  in 
her  father's  charge  till  1815  or  1816,  when  he  gave  them  to  him.  In  1825  Dr. 
Scholl  sold  half  the  library  for  12,500  francs  [£500]  to  Mr.  Halliday,  an 
Englishman,  who  lived  in  a  tower  near  Orbe.  The  other  half  was  dispersed 
by  sale,  500  volumes  going  to  an  American  University  (Hist.  Studies,  ii.,  505) 
In  Notes  and  Queries,  5th  S.,  v.,  425,  it  is  stated  that  the  owner  of  the 
unscattered  half  "  presented  it  to  its  present  [1876]  owner,  who  lives  near 
Geneva". 

62.  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION  (p.  237). 

In  1784  Gibbon,  who  seems  to  have  learnt  little  from  history,  invested 
£1,300  in  a  new  French  loan  (Corres.,  ii.,  93).  Describing  the  French  monarchy 
as  it  was  in  1788,  he  said  "  it  stood  founded,  as  it  might  seem,  on  the  rock  of 
time,  force,  and  opinion,  supported  by  the  triple  Aristocracy  of  the  Church,  the 
Nobility,  and  the  Parliaments  "  (ii.,  ii. ,  298). 

How  striking  a  comment  was  to  be  made  on  the  following  passage  in  The 
Decline,  v.,  243,  by  the  Reign  of  Terror,  the  execution  of  the  King,  the  fall  of 
so  many  of  the  Princes  of  Europe,  and  the  rise  of  Napoleon  !  "I  shall  not 
descant  on  the  vulgar  topics  of  the  misery  of  Kings  ;  but  I  may  surely  observe 
that  their  condition,  of  all  others,  is  the  most  pregnant  with  fear  and  the  least 
susceptible  of  hope.  For  these  opposite  passions  a  larger  scope  was  allowed 
in  the  revolutions  of  antiquity  than  in  the  smooth  and  solid  temper  of  the 
modern  world,  which  cannot  easily  either  repeat  the  triumph  of  Alexander  or 
the  fall  of  Darius." 

The  following  extracts  show  the  view  he  took  of  events  as  they  passed 
before  him  : — 

"  (Dec.  15,  1789.)  How  many  years  must  elapse  before  France  can  recover 
any  vigour,  or  resume  her  station  among  the  powers  of  Europe  !  "  (Corres.,  ii., 
210.) 

"  (April  4, 1792.)  It  is  the  opinion  of  the  master-movers  in  France  (I  know 
it  most  certainly),  that  their  troops  will  not  fight,  that  the  people  have  lost  all 
sense  of  patriotism,  and  that  on  the  first  discharge  of  an  Austrian  cannon  the 
game  is  up  "  (ii. ,  p.  293). 

"  (Sept.  12,  1792.)  On  every  rational  principle  of  calculation  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick  must  succeed  ;  yet  sometimes,  when  my  spirits  are  low,  I  dread 
the  blind  efforts  of  mad  and  desperate  multitudes  fighting  on  their  own 
ground  "  (ii.,  p.  311). 


340  APPENDIX 

"  (Nov.  10,  1792. )  Every  dog  has  his  day  ;  and  these  Gallic  dogs  have 
their  day,  at  least,  of  most  insolent  prosperity.  After  forcing  or  tempting  the 
Prussians  to  evacuate  their  country,  they  conquer  Savoy,  pillage  Germany, 
threaten  Spain  ;  the  Low  Countries  are  ere  now  invaded  ;  Rome  and  Italy 
tremble  ;  they  scour  the  Mediterranean,  and  talk  of  sending  a  squadron  into 
the  South  Sea"  {Corres.,  ii.,  p.  333). 

Had  he  written  his  History  a  few  years  later,  it  would  never  have  con- 
tained such  passages  as  the  following:  "Augustus  or  Trajan  would  have 
blushed  at  employing  the  meanest  of  the  Romans  in  those  menial  offices 
which,  in  the  household  and  bedchamber  of  a  limited  monarch,  are  so  eagerly 
solicited  by  the  proudest  nobles  of  Britain"  (The  Decline,  i.,  68). 

"'  A  weak  prince  will  always  be  governed  by  his  domestics.  .  .  .  There  is  a 
chance  that  a  modern  favourite  may  be  a  gentleman"  (ib. ,  ».). 

"  The  Ecclesiastes  and  Proverbs  display  a  larger  compass  of  thought  and 
experience  than  seem  to  belong  either  to  a  Jew  or  a  King"  (ib.,  iv.,  294). 

"The  choice  of  the  people  is  the  best  and  purest  title  to  reign  over  them  " 
[ib.,  iv.,  310). 

"  The  power  of  Kings  is  most  effectual  to  destroy  "  (ib.,  iv.,  425). 

When  Gibbon  heard  of  the  King's  execution  he  wrote  to  Lord  Sheffield  : 
' '  I  was  much  tempted  to  go  into  mourning,  .  .  .  but  as  the  only  Englishman 
of  any  mark,  I  was  afraid  of  being  singular"  (Corres. ,  ii. ,  370).  For  his 
friend's  abuse  of  him  in  reply,  as  "  a  damned,  unworthy,  temporising  son  of 
a  bitch,"  see  ib.,  p.  374. 

According  to  Sainte-Beuve,  the  French  Revolution  gave  Gibbon  "  un  peu 
de  ce  patriotisme  dont  il  avait  eu  jusque-la  si  peu.  ...  En  considerant  le 
champ  illimit6  d'anarchie  et  d'aventures  dans  lequel  on  se  lancait  a  l'aveugle, 
il  en  revint  a  aimer  cette  Constitution  anglaise  pour  laquelle  il  s'£tait  toujours 
senti  assez  tiede.  ...  II  est  curieux  de  voir  Gibbon  devenu  chaleureux  comme 
un  Burke,  et  levant  la  main  pour  l'Arche  de  la  Constitution  comme  un  Fox 
et  comme  un  Macaulay  "  (Causeries,  viii.,  469). 

63.  CHURCH  ESTABLISHMENTS  (p.  237). 

On  March  2,  1790,  Burke,  speaking  against  Fox's  motion  for  the  repeal  of 
the  Test  and  Corporation  Acts,  ' '  professed  his  peculiar  reverence  for  the 
Established  Church"  (Pari.  Hist.,  xxviii.,  435). 

Lord  Holland  (Memoirs,  &c. ,  ed.  1825,  i. ,  5)  wrote  of  Burke  :  "  An  extra- 
vagant veneration  for  all  established  rites  and  ceremonies  in  religion  appears 
to  have  been  a  sentiment  long  and  deeply  rooted  in  his  mind.  It  arose, 
indeed,  from  a  conviction  of  the  necessity  of  some  establishment  to  the  pre- 
servation of  society.  .  .  .  Mr.  Fox  assured  me  that  in  his  invectives  against 
Mr.  Hastings's  indignities  to  the  Indian  Priesthood  he  spoke  of  the  holy 
religion  and  sacred  functions  of  the  Hindoos  with  an  awe  bordering  on 
devotion." 

What  Gibbon  thought  of  Church  establishments  he  shows  when  he  writes, 
that  by  an  Archbishop  of  Alexandria  "the  revenues  of  the  Church  were 
restored  to  the  true  proprietors,  the  poor  of  every  countr}-  and  every  denomi- 
nation" (The  Decline,  v.,  71).  A  Jacobin  would  not  have  gone  further.  In 
another  passage,  quoting  Selden  and  Montesquieu,  "who  represent  Charle- 
magne as  the  first  legal  author  of  tithes,"  he  continues:  "Such  obligations 
have  country  gentlemen  to  his  memory  ! "  (lb.,  v.,  286.) 

He  wrote  of  Burke  to  Lord  Sheffield  in  the  winter  of  1790-1 :  "I  admire 
his  eloquence,  I  approve  his  politics,  I  adore  his  chivalry,  and  I  can  forgive 
even  his  superstition.  The  primitive  Church,  which  I  have  treated  with  some 
freedom,  was  itself  at  that  time  an  innovation,  and  I  was  attached  to  the  old 
Pagan  establishment"  (Corres.,  ii.,  237).  On  May  31,  1791,  he  wrote  :  "Poor 
Burke  is  the  most  eloquent  and  rational  madman  that  I  ever  knew ' '  (ib. ,  p. 
251). 


APPENDIX  341 

Lord  Sheffield  records  how  Gibbon  "  became  a  warm  and  zealous  advocate 
for  every  sort  of  old  establishment.  ...  In  a  circle  where  French  affairs 
were  the  topic,  and  some  Portuguese  present,  he,  seemingly  with  seriousness, 
argued  in  favour  of  the  Inquisition  at  Lisbon,  and  said  he  would  not,  at  the 
present  moment,  give  up  even  that  old  establishment"  (Misc.  Works,  i.,  328). 

"  It  is  by  no  means  true  that  unbelievers  are  usually  tolerant.  They  are 
not  disposed  (and  why  should  they  ?)  to  endanger  the  present  state  of  things 
by  suffering  a  religion  of  which  they  believe  nothing  to  be  disturbed  by 
another  of  which  they  believe  as  little.  They  are  read}*  themselves  to  con- 
form to  anything ;  and  are  oftentimes  among  the  foremost  to  procure 
conformity  from  others  by  any  method  which  they  think  likely  to  be 
efficacious"  (Paley's  Evidences,  ed.  1796,  i.,  32). 


64.  BERNE'S  GOVERNMENT  OF  VAUD  (p.  239). 

Gibbon  wrote  on  April  4,  1792,  that  two  popular  leaders  had  been  ' '  con- 
demned to  five-and-twenty  years'  imprisonment  in  the  fortress  of  Arbourg. 
It  is  not  believed  that  the  proofs  and  proceedings  against  them  will  be  pub- 
lished ;  an  awkward  circumstance,  which  it  does  not  seem  easy  to  justify. 
Some  (though  none  of  note)  are  taken  up,  several  are  fled,  many  more  are 
suspected  and  suspicious.  All  are  silent  ;  but  it  is  the  silence  of  fear  and 
discontent ;  and  the  secret  hatred  which  rankled  against  government  begins 
to  point  against  the  few  who  are  known  to  be  well-affected"  (Carres.,  ii., 
293). 

Writing  of  the  law-suit  with  which  he  was  threatened,  he  says  :  "  The 
administration  of  justice  at  Berne  (the  last  appeal)  depends  too  much  on 
favour  and  intrigue.  ...  I  must  have  gone  to  Berne,  have  solicited  my 
judges  in  person  ;  a  vile  custom  !  "  (lb.,  ii.,  203,  205.) 

In  his  Introduction  d  V Histoire  Ge'ne'rale  de  la  Rdpublique  des  Suisses,  he 
says  :  "  Berne  apporta  dans  les  conseils  des  Suisses  une  politique  plus  ferme, 
plus  r£fl£chie  et  plus  eclair^e  ;  mais  elle  y  apporta  en  meme  temps  ses  desseins 
int6ress6s,  le  gout  des  conquetes,  et  une  ambition  moins  soumise  aux  lois  de 
la  justice  qu'a  celles  de  la  prudence  "  (Misc.  Works,  iii.,  329). 

Torture  was  used  in  some  of  the  Swiss  States  at  all  events  as  late  as  1779 
(Ann.  Reg.,  1779,  ii.,  16). 

Vaud  was  freed  by  the  French  from  dependence  on  Berne  in  1798,  and  was 
made  a  sovereign  canton  in  1803  (Penny  Cyclo.,  xxvi.,  161). 


65.  CONDEMNED  TO  IGNORANCE  AND  POVERTY  (p.  239). 

''Such  is  the  constitution  of  civil  society  that,  whilst  a  few  persons  are 
distinguished  by  riches,  by  honours,  and  by  knowledge,  the  body  of  the 
people  is  condemned  to  obscurity,  ignorance,  and  poverty"  (The  Decline,  ii., 
65).  In  another  passage — a  passage  that  reveals  the  great  historian's  igno- 
rance of  his  countrymen — he  says  that  "  the  illiterate  peasant  rooted  to  a 
single  spot,  and  confined  to  a  few  years  of  existence,  surpasses  but  very  little 
his  fellow -labourer  the  ox  in  the  exercise  of  his  mental  faculties"  (ib.,  i., 
218). 

It  is  true  that  in  another  place  he  greatly  exaggerates  the  extent  of  popular 
education.  Speaking  of  Charlemagne,  he  says :  "In  his  mature  age  the 
Emperor  strove  to  acquire  the  practice  of  writing,  which  every  peasant  now 
learns  in  his  infancy  ' '   (ib. ,  v. ,  286). 

In  writing  of  the  Arabs'  '' perfection  of  language,"  and  the  abundance  of 
their  synonyms,  he  continues  :  "This  copious  dictionary  was  entrusted  to  the 
memory  of  an  illiterate  people  "  (ib.,  v.,  325). 


342  APPENDIX 

Johnson  would  not  have  had  any  class  ' '  condemned  to  ignorance  and 
poverty  ".  "  Though  it  should  be  granted,"  he  wrote,  "that  those  who  are 
born  to  poverty  and  drudgery  should  not  be  deprived  by  an  improper  education 
of  the  opiate  of  ignorance,  even  this  concession  will  not  be  of  much  use  to 
direct  our  practice,  unless  it  be  determined  who  are  those  that  are  born  to 
poverty.  To  entail  irreversible  poverty  upon  generation  after  generation,  only 
because  the  ancestor  happened  to  be  poor,  is  in  itself  cruel,  if  not  unjust,  and 
is  wholly  contrary  to  the  maxims  of  a  commercial  nation,  which  always  .  .  . 
offer  every  individual  a  chance  of  mending  his  condition  by  his  diligence. 
Those  who  communicate  literature  to  the  son  of  a  poor  man  consider  him  as 
one  not  born  to  poverty,  but  to  the  necessity  of  deriving  a  better  fortune  from 
himself"  (Johnson's  Works,  vi.,  56  ;  see  also  Johnson's  Letters,  ii.,  437). 


66.  GIBBON'S  THOUGHTS  OF  MARRIAGE  (p.  241). 

In  1763,  and  again  in  1764,  he  told  his  father  that  he  did  not  think  of  ever 
marrying  (Cor res.,  i. ,  46,  70).  In  1784  he  wrote  to  Lady  Sheffield  :  "Should 
you  be  very  much  surprised  to  hear  of  my  being  married  ?  Amazing  as  it  may 
seem,  I  do  assure  yo\i  that  the  event  is  less  improbable  than  it  would  have 
appeared  to  myself  a  twelvemonth  ago"  (Corres.,  ii. ,  118).  Seven  years  later 
he  wrote  to  his  step-mother:  "At  fifty-four  a  man  should  never  think  of 
altering  the  whole  system  of  his  life  and  habits"  (ib.,  ii.,  248).  "  I  was  not 
very  strongly  pressed  by  my  family  or  passions,"  he  said,  "  to  propagate  the 
name  and  race  of  the  Gibbons"  (Auto.,  p.  275).  For  his  "passions"  see 
Auto.,  pp.  60,  150,  159,  205,  244,  263,  274,  and  Corres.,  i.,  70  ;  see  also  ante, 
pp.  105,  153,  n.  4. 

Miss  Holroyd  describes  a  lady,  Mme.  de  Montolieu,  "who  had  put  Mr. 
Gibbon's  liberty  in  danger.  ...  It  never  occurs  to  him  that  she  might  have 
refused  him"  (Girlhood,  &c,  p.  115).  For  his  confession  that  he  "was  in 
some  danger  "  see  Corres.,  ii. ,  154. 

It  was  before  this  lady  that  he  fell  on  his  knees  as  a  lover,  according  to 
Mme.  de  Genlis,  "une  assez  mechante  langue,  il  est  vrai,"  to  borrow  Sainte- 
Beuve's  description  of  her  (Causeries,  viii.,  468).  She  wrote:  "  Avec  cette 
figure  et  ce  visage  Strange  qu'on  lui  connait,  M.  Gibbon  est  infiniment  galant, 
et  il  est  devenu  amoureux  d'une  tres-aimable  personne,  madame  de  Crouzas. 
Un  jour,  se  trouvant  tete  a  tete  avec  elle,  pour  la  premiere  fois,  il  voulut 
saisir  un  moment  si  favorable,  et  tout  a  coup  il  se  jeta  a  ses  genoux  en  lui 
declarant  son  amour  dans  les  termes  les  plus  passionnes.  Madame  de  Crouzas 
lui  repondit  de  maniere  a  lui  oter  la  tentation  de  renouveler  cette  jolie  scene. 
M.  Gibbon  prit  un  air  consterne,  et  cependant  il  restait  a  genoux,  malgre' 
1' invitation  relteree  de  se  remettre  sur  sa  chaise  ;  il  £tait  immobile  et  gardait 
le  silence.  '  Mais,  Monsieur,  repela  Madame  de  Crousaz,  relevez-vous  done. — 
H61as !  Madame,  repondit  enfin  ce  malheureux  amant,  je  ne  peux  pas' 
Madame  de  Crousaz  sonna,  et  dit  au  domestique  qui  survint :  Relevez 
monsieur  Gibbon"  (Souvenirs  de  Fdlicie,  par  Mme.  de  Genlis,  ed.  1857,  p. 
176). 

Mme.  de  Genlis'  daughter  said  that  her  mother  had  made  "  a  confusion  of 
persons"  (Read's  Hist.  Studies,  ii. ,  350).  General  Read  quotes  The  Gent. 
Mag. ,  1843,  p.  506,  and  The  Life  of  Cardinal  Mezzofanti  to  prove  that  the 
lady  was  Lady  Elizabeth  Foster,  afterwards  Duchess  of  Devonshire.  In  The 
Gent.  Mag.  it  is  stated  that  she  was  at  Lausanne  in  June,  1787.  She  was 
there  in  1784;  "  poorly  in  health,"  Gibbon  wrote  to  Lady  Sheffield,  "but 
still  adorable  (nay,  do  not  frown  !),  and  I  enjoyed  some  delightful  hours  by 
her  bedside"  ;  and  she  was  there  again  in  1792  (Corres.,  ii. ,  117,  310).  His 
letters  to  her  are  not  those  of  a  man  who  had  made  himself  ridiculous  before 
her.     He  would  not  have  recalled  to  her  his  "aged  and  gouty  limbs  "  (Misc. 


APPENDIX  343 

Works,  ii.,  472).     On  the  death  of  Lady  Sheffield  he  wrote  to  her  :  "I  am 
sure  that  your  feeling,  affectionate  mind  will  (not  be  surprised  to  hear  that  I 
set  out  for  England  next  week"  (Corres.,  ii.,  380). 
The  whole  stor}r  is  probably  an  invention. 


67.  THE  CHANCES  OF  LIFE  AND  DEATH  (p.  243). 

Mr.  Buffon,  from  our  disregard  of  the  possibility  of  death  within  the  four 
and  twenty  hours,  concludes  that  a  chance  which  falls  below  or  rises  above 
ten  thousand  to  one  will  never  affect  the  hopes  or  fears  of  a  reasonable  man. 
The  fact  is  true,  but  our  courage  is  the  effect  of  thoughtlessness,  rather  than 
of  reflection.  If  a  public  lottery  were  drawn  for  the  choice  of  an  immediate 
victim,  and  if  our  name  were  inscribed  on  one  of  the  ten  thousand  tickets, 
should  we  be  perfectly  easy  ?  (Footnote  bjT  Gibbon.) 

"Apresy  avoir  r6fl6chi,  j'ai  pens6  que  de  toutes  les  probability  morales 
possibles,  celle  qui  affecte  le  plus  l'homme  en  g6ne>al,  e'est  la  crainte  de  la 
mort,  et  j'ai  senti  des-lors  que  toute  crainte,  ou  toute  esperance  dont  la 
probability  serait  egale  a  celle  qui  produit  la  crainte  de  la  mort,  peut  dans  le 
moral  etre  prise  pour  1' unite'  a  laquelle  on  doit  rapporter  la  mesure  des  autres 
craintes.  .  .  .  Je  cherche  done  quelle  est  r^ellement  la  probability  qu'un 
homme  qui  se  porte  bien,  et  qui  par  consequent  n'a  nulle  crainte  de  la  mort, 
meure  m^anmoins  dans  les  vingt-quatre  heures.  En  consultant  les  tables  de 
mortality,  je  vois  qu'on  en  peut  d^duire  qu'il  n'y  a  que  10,189  a  parier  contre 
un  qu'un  homme  de  cinquante-six  ans  vivra  plus  d'un  jour.  Or  comme  tout 
homme  de  cet  age,  oil  la  raison  a  acquis  toute  sa  maturity  et  l'experience  toute 
sa  force,  n'a  n^anmoins  nulle  crainte  de  la  mort  dans  les  vingt-quatre  heures, 
quoiqu'il  n'y  ait  que  10,189  a  parier  contre  un  qu'il  ne  mourra  pas  dans  ce  coiirt 
intervalle  de  temps  ;  j'en  conclus  que  toute  probability  egale  ou  plus  petite, 
doit  etre  regarded  comme  nulle,  et  que  toute  crainte  ou  toute  esperance  qui  se 
trouve  au-dessous  de  dix  mille  ne  doit  ni  nous  affecter,  ni  meme  nous  occuper 
un  seul  instant  le  coeur  ou  la  tete." 

The  mathematician  Bernoulli,  after  pointing  out  to  Buffon  that  "l'exemp- 
tion  de  frayeur  n'est  assur^ment  pas  dans  ceux  qui  sont  d£ja  malades," 
continues  :  "  Je  ne  combats  pas  votre  principe,  mais  il  parait  plutot  conduire  a 
TUTnrrnr  qu'a  rjri?nr"  {Hist.  Nat.,  &c. ,  ed.  1777  ;  Supplement,  iv.,  56. 

The  passage  in  the  text  is  dated  March  2,  1791  (Auto.,  p.  349).  Gibbon  was 
within  eight  weeks  of  his  fifty -fourth  birthday.  His  expectation  of  life  he 
derived  from  Buffon,  who  says:  "Pour  une  personne  de  cinquante-quatre 
ans  on  peut  parier  2,786  contre  2,588  qu'elle  vivra  14  ans  de  plus.  On  peut 
parier  2,969  contre  2,405  qu'elle  ne  vivra  pas  16  ans  de  plus  "  (Supplement,  iv. , 
224).  The  expectation  of  life  at  fifty-four,  calculated  on  the  mortality  of 
1871-80,  is  sixteen  years  and  a  half  (Whitaker's  Almanack,  1899,  p.  691). 

These  fond  hopes  of  Gibbon  came  into  my  mind  when,  in  Sainte-Beuve,  I 
read  that  fine  passage  where  Bossuet  describes  life  as  that  "qui  nous 
manquera  tout  k  coup  comme  un  faux  ami,  lorsqu'elle  semblera  nous 
promettre  plus  de  repos  "  (Causeries,  x.,  201). 


68.  LIFE'S  AUTUMNAL  FELICITY  (p.  244). 

"Quelqu'un  demandait  au  philosophe  Fontenelle,  ag£  de  quatre-vingt 
quinze  ans,  quelles  etaient  les  vingt  annees  de  sa  vie  qu'il  regrettait  le  plus  ; 
il  r^pondit  qu'il  regrettait  peu  de  chose,  que  n^anmoins  l'age  ou  il  avait  6t6  le 
plus  heureux  6tait  de  cinquante-cinq  a  soixante-quinze  ans  ;  il  fit  cet  aveu  de 
bonne  foi,  et  il  prouva  son  dire  par  des  verites  sensibles  et  consolantes.  A 
cinquante-cinq  ans  la  fortune  est  6tablie,  la  reputation  faite,  la  consideration 


344  APPENDIX 

obtenue,  l'6tat  de  la  vie  fixe,  les  pretentions  eVanouies  ou  remplies,  les  projets 
avort^s  ou  muris,  la  plupart  des  passions  calm^es  ou  du  moins  refroidies," 
&c.  (Buffon,  Hist.  Nat.,  Supplement,  iv.,  413). 

Napoleon  Bonaparte,  in  the  letter  mentioned  ante,  p.  221,  n.  4,  quoted 
Fontenelle's  saying  that  "the  two  great  qualities  necessary  to  live  long  were 
a  good  body  and  a  bad  heart"  (Read's  Hist.  Studies,  ii.,  199). 

Voltaire  wrote  to  Mrae.  du  Deffand  in  his  seventieth  year  (CEuvres,  Hi., 
239) :  "  Rarement  le  dernier  age  de  la  vie  est-il  bien  agreable;  on  a  toujours 
espere'  assez  vainement  de  jouir  de  la  vie  ;  et  a  la  fin,  tout  ce  qu'on  peut  faire, 
c'est  de  la  supporter  ".  Seven  years  later  he  wrote  to  Lord  Chesterfield  :  "  Je 
me  borne  a  croire  que,  si  vous  avez  du  soleil  dans  la  belle  maison  que  vous 
avez  batie,  vous  aurez  des  momens  tol erables  ;  c'est  tout  ce  qu'on  peut  esperer 
a  l'age  ou  nous  sommes.  Ciceron  ecrivit  un  beau  traits  sur  la  vieillesse,  mais  il 
ne  prouva  point  son  livre  par  les  faits ;  ses  dernieres  ann^es  furent  tres- 
malheureuses  "  (Chesterfield's  Misc.  Works,  iii.,  399). 

Hume,  a  few  months  before  his  death,  writing  of  the  previous  year  when 
his  health  was  being  slowly  undermined  by  disease,  said  :  Were  I  to  name  a 
period  of  my  life  which  I  should  most  choose  to  pass  over  again,  I  might  be 
tempted  to  point  to  this  later  period.  I  possess  the  same  ardour  as  ever  in 
study,  and  the  same  gaiety  in  company  "  (Letters  to  Strahan,  Preface,  p.  32). 

Bowring  wrote  of  Jeremy  Bentham  :  "It  was  principally  in  the  latter 
portion  of  his  life  that  his  felicity  was  almost  untroubled.  The  many  dis- 
comforts of  the  early  half  of  his  existence  were  often  contrasted  by  him  with 
the  quiet  and  habitual  pleasures  of  his  later  years"  (Bentham' s  Works,  x. , 
25). 

"An  healthy  old  fellow  that  is  not  a  fool  is  the  happiest  creature  living" 
{The  Guardian,  No.  26). 


INDEX 


Akernethy,  John,  257  ;;. 

Abingdon,  Earl  of,  169  n. 

Abjuration,  Act  of,  13  n,  274. 

Abulpharagius,  45,  282. 

Academy  of  Inscriptions,  120,  123. 

Academy  of  Medals,  158. 

Acton,  Lord,  276. 

Acton,  Dr.  Edward,  24,  154,  276. 

Acton,  Richard,  16,  276. 

Acton,  Richard  (of  Leghorn),  25,  276. 

Acton,  General  Sir  John,  24,  276. 

Acton,  Sir  Walter,  276. 

Acton,  Sir  Whitmore,  16. 

Adams,  William,  D.D.,  287,  327. 

Addington,  Henry  (Viscount  Sid- 
mouth),  215  n. 

Addison,  Joseph,  army,  298  ;  barring- 
out,  40  n  ;  Board  of  Trade,  322  ; 
Dialogues,  160;  historians,  295; 
Magdalen  College,  284  ;  not  read, 
336  ;  Padua,  166  n  ;  style,  122  ; 
younger  brothers,  273. 

Africanus,  46  n. 

Agathias,  214. 

Agesilaus,  40. 

Aiguillon,  Duchess  of,  127. 

Aldrich,  Dean,  283. 

Alembert  (d),  Olivet,  91  n  ;  Audits, 
123 ;  Gibbon  meets  him,  152  ; 
happiness,   241  n. 

Alexander  the  Great,  78  n. 

Alfred,  King,  51  n. 

Algiers,  25. 

Allamand,  Professor,  101. 

America,  war  with,  191,  193,  212,  226, 
314,  324,  327,  329 ;  —  astrono- 
mers,  315 ;    —  trade,   332. 

American  Secretary  of  State,  208,  323. 

Ammianus  Marcellinus,  6  n,  181. 

Ancestry,  2-5. 

Anderson,  James,  45,  283. 

Anglomanie,  305. 

Anne,  Queen,  16  n ,  274. 

Anstey,  Christopher,  174. 

Anti- Jacobin,  231  n. 

Anville  (d'),  159. 


(345) 


Apollinaris,  223  n, 

Apthorpe,  Rev.  East,  D.  D. ,  203,  318. 

Arabian  Nights,  38,  93  ». 

Arabs,  341. 

Argyle,  Eighth  Duke  of,  313. 

Arianism,  201. 

Arms,  wearing,  161  n. 

Army,  standing,  134,  298. 

Arnauld,  Abbe,  152,  306. 

Ashmole,  Elias,  13. 

Assises  de  Jerusalem,  229. 

Assist,  192  n. 

Astrology,  13. 

Astruc,  Jean,  203  n. 

Athanasian  Creed,  71. 

Athanasius,  57  n. 

Atticus,  132. 

Aubert,  Abbe\  338. 

Aubrey,  Sir  John,  169  11. 

Auckland,  Lord,  260-2,  322. 

Augsburg,  Congress  of,  126. 

Augustus,  130  n. 

Aulnoi  (d'),  Countess,  7  n,  278. 

Austin,  St.,  7. 

Authors,  153  n,  191,  243  n,  308,  313. 

Automat/ies,  32. 

Bacon,  Francis  (Viscount  Verulam), 

6  n,  34  n,  145. 
Bacon,  Friar,  52  n. 
Badcock,  Rev.  Samuel,  204,  320. 
Bagehot,  Walter,  197  n,  297. 
Bagot,  Bishop  Lewis,  81  n. 
Baillie,  Matthew,  M.D. ,  257. 
Baker,  a  Jesuit,  72  ?i. 
Ballard,  — ,  300. 
Balliol  College,  290. 
Banks,  Sir  Joseph,  311. 
Bar,  The,  114. 
Barbeyrac,  96. 
Barbier,  A.  A.,  338. 
Barnard,  Dean,  303,  312. 
Baronius,  Cardinal,  68  n,  182. 
Barons'  War,  144. 
Barr6,  Colonel  Isaac,  193. 
Barrow,  Isaac,  304. 


346 


INDEX 


Barth£lemy,  Abbe\  152,  306. 
Bath  Guide,  174. 

Batt,  John  Thomas,  225  n,  264,  268. 
Bayle,    Peter,   scepticism,  74,   76  ;  at- 
tacked by  De  Crousaz,  87,  96  ;    at 
Copet,  222  n  ;  obscenity,  231  n. 
Beauclerk,  Hon.  Topham,  30  n,  311. 
Beaufort  (de),  no. 
Beaumarchais,  206. 
Beausobre,  140,  299, 
Becket,  T.,  126,  128. 
Beckford,  William,  339. 
Beddoes,  Thomas,  M.D.,  200  //. 
Bedford,  Fourth  Duke  of,  298. 
Behmen  (Bohme),  Jacob,  22. 
Belisarius,  337. 
Belleisle,  Marshal  de,  155  n. 
Benedict  XIV.,  164. 
Benedictines,  56. 

Bentham,  Edward,  D.D.,  80,  291. 
Bentham,  Jeremy,  Oxford,  50  n,  65  n, 
289,  290  ;  Lind's  Manifesto ,  205  n  ; 
Eliot   and   Gibbon,    209   n,    313  ; 
Westminster   School,    279 ;  Hors- 
ley,  322  ;    old  age,  344. 
Bentley,  Richard,  D.  D.,  Phxdrus,  36, 
278  ;    Pope's  Homer,  38  n  ;    New 
Testament,  56  n  ;  vernacular  idiom, 
130  ;  Spanheim's  portrait,  160  n  ; 
learning,  210. 
Bergier,  Nicholas,  159. 
Bernard,  St.,  338. 
Berne,  98  n,  223,  238,  341. 
Bernoulli,  59,  343. 
Berry,  Miss,  339. 
Bertie,  Hon.  Peregrine,  169  n. 
Best,  H.  D.,  288. 
Betts,  Dr.  John,  13. 
Bigge,  Thomas  Charles,  169  ;/. 
Biographia  Britannica,  6. 
Birch,  Thomas,  D.D. ,  144. 
Blackstone,  Sir  William,  act  of  abjura- 
tion, 274 ;  armorial  ensigns,  9  n  ; 
army,  298  ;  burgage  tenure,  277  ; 
Christianity,  321  ;    Commentaries, 
81,  184  ;  esquires,  8  n  ;  lectures  at 
Oxford,   292  ;  Militia  Act,   119  n, 
135  n  ;   Popery  laws,  73,  291  ;  uni- 
versities, 287  ;  younger  sons,  273. 
Blake,  William,  303. 
Blandy,  Miss,  58  n. 
Bleterie,  Abbe'  de  la,  97,  152,  306. 
Bliss,  Philip,  61  n. 
Blondel,  — ,  220  n. 
Bloxam,  Rev.  J.  R.,  D.D..  283. 
Blunt,  Sir  John,  18  n. 
Board  of  Trade,  208,  213,  322. 
Boase,  Rev.  C.  W. ,  61  n. 


Boccage  (du),  Madame,  153,  308. 

Bochat  (de),  223  n. 

Boileau,  231. 

Bolingbroke,  Viscount,  army,  298  ; 
French,  133  ;  Gibbon's  grand- 
father, 16  ;  historians,  295  ;  Jaco- 
bites, 25  n,  58  n. 

Bologna,  165. 

Bolton,  Duke  of,  119  n,  136,  302. 

Bolton,  Duchess  of,  7  n. 

Booksellers,  243. 

Boromean  Islands,  161. 

Bossuet,  69,  343. 

Boswell,  James,  boyish  years,  46  n  ; 
esquires  and  gentlemen,  8  n,  273  ; 
Gibbon,  73,  n  311  ;  Highlanders 
at  Derby,  28  n ;  Literary  Club, 
312  ;  popular  belief,  78  n  ;  read 
beyond  the  Mississippi,  233  n  ; 
Russell  Street,  72  n  ;  Toryism, 
174  n. 

Boufflers  (de),  Countess,  175  n. 

Bougainville  (de),  152,  307. 

Boulainvilliers  (de),  Count,  223  n. 

Boulard,  337. 

Bourdaloue,  300. 

Bower,  Archibald,  44,  282. 

Bowring,  Sir  John,  344. 

Boyhood,  46. 

Breitinger,  Professor,  100. 

Brenles  (de),  Madame,  295. 

Bristol,  227,  253,  333. 

Bristol,  Earl  of,  115. 

British  Museum,  124  n ,  188  n. 

Brizard,  Abb£,  317. 

Brocklesby,  Richard,  M.D. ,  137  >?■ 

Brodrick,  Thomas,  17  n. 

Brougham,  Lord,  297. 

Brunswick,  Duke  of,  339. 

Brunswick,  Hereditary  Prince  of,  14, 
221  n. 

Bryce,  James,  293. 

Brydges,  Sir  S.  E.,  10  »,  11  n. 

Buffon,  style,  1  n  ;  chances  of  life,  29  n, 
239  n,  343 ;  Gibbon's  acquaintance, 
152,  199. 

Bugnion,  Madame,  89  n. 

Buller,  Charles,  313. 

Burgage  tenure,  25,  277. 

Burgersdicius,  80  n. 

Buriton  or  Beriton,  116. 

Burke,  Edmund,  army,  298  ;  Bill  of 
Reform,  208,  213,  215  «,  322 ; 
Chatham,  Earl  of,  151  n  •  Church 
Establishments,  237,  290,  340  ; 
Coalition  Ministry,  329  ;  com- 
panions, 220  n  ;  fame,  242  n  ;  Fox, 
331  ;     French    Revolution,    237  ; 


INDEX 


347 


Gibbon,  190  n,  260-1  ;  government 
asleep,  192  n  ;  Helv^tius,  308  ; 
historians,  296  ;  Hunter's  lectures, 
200  n  ;  influence,  119  ;/  ;  "  le 
grand  Burke,"  134  n  ;  Literary 
Club,  311  ;  Militia  Act,  135  n  ; 
North,  Lord,  328 ;  opposition,  193  ; 
Oxford,  291  ;  Septennial  Act,  19 
n  ;  Sheridan,  334  ;  Tories,  135. 

Burmann,  Peter,  36,  59,  278. 

Burne-Jones,  Sir  Edward,  61  n. 

Burnet,  Bishop  Gilbert,  6  n,  211  n,  274. 

Burnet,  Rev.  Thomas,  LL. D.,  211, 
326. 

Burney,  Dr.,  311. 

Burton,  John,  D.D. ,  80. 

Bute,  third  Earl  of,  119,  207  /?,  301. 

Bute,  Marquis  of,  169  n. 

Byers,  James,  163. 

Byrom,  John,  24  n. 

Byron,  Lord,  332. 

Cade,  Jack,  10. 

Cadell,  Thomas,  194,  229. 

Caesar  of  Este,  165  n. 

Calonne,  330. 

Calvin,  321. 

Cambridge,  University  of,  antiquity, 
51  ;  discipline,  47,  52  ;  matricula- 
tions, 42  n;  Darwin,  50  n  ;  Parr 
and  Pitt,  57  n. 

Camden,  William,  14,  295. 

Campbell,  Lord,  322. 

Canterbury,  John  Moore,  Archbishop 
of,  262. 

Cantwel,  Andre\  232,  337. 

Capperonnier,  152,  307. 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  Frederick  the  Great, 
103  n,  138,  330  n  ;  British  Museum, 
188  n  ;  French  Revolution ,  225  n  ; 
Girondists,   260  n  ;    Gibbon,    297, 

335.  337- 
Caroline,  Queen,  133,  298. 
Carter,  Laurence,  18  n. 
Casaubon,  123,  277. 
Catrou,  Francois,  93. 
Cattel,  — ,  59  n. 
Cavendish,  Lord  John,  324. 
Caylus,  Count  de,  127,  129,  152,  305. 
Cellarius,  Christopher,  45,  282. 
Cellini,  Benevenuto,  7. 
Cerinthus,  223  n. 
Chambers,  Sir  Robert,  292. 
Charlemagne,  340,  341. 
Charlemont,   Earl  of,  115  n. 
Charles  I.,  13  n,  74. 
Charles  II.,  13. 
Charles  V. ,  Emperor,  147. 


Charles  VI.,  Emperor,  97  n. 

Charles  VIII.  of  France,  143. 

Charles  XII.  of  Sweden,  no  n. 

Charles  Emanuel  III.,  161. 

Chatham,  Earl  of,  see  Pitt,  William. 

Chelsum,  James,  D. D. ,  202,  210,  318. 

Chemistry,  200. 

Chesterfield,  Fourth  Earl  of,  Arabian 
Nights,  93  n  ;  domesticated ,  115  ; 
Du  Boccage,  308  ;  Einsidlen,  99 
n  ;  French,  132  ;  Geneva,  82  n  ; 
Gibbon,  175,  176  n  ;  Lady  Hervey, 
116  n ;  letters,  332 ;  Liskeard, 
313  ;  Militia  Bill,  119  n  ;  old  age, 
344  ;  the  Pope,  164  n  ;  Robertson, 
297  ;  schools,  40  n  ;  unwell,  255 
n  ;  young  travellers,  167  n. 

Chesterfield,  Fifth  Earl  of,  176,  216  n. 

Child,  Professor  F.  J.,  82  n. 

Chilling  worth,  William,  49,  74,  286. 

Chitty,  Lord  Justice,  293. 

Choiseul,  Duke  of,  206. 

Christianity,  Church  establishments, 
237>  34°  ;  effect  on  learning,  52  n  ; 
—  on  the  Roman  empire,  183 ; 
established  by  law,  321  ;  Gibbon's 
attack,  201,  209,  317-21,  325  ; 
human  causes,  194  ;  Incarnation, 
223  ;  infallible  church,  74  ;  mir- 
acles,  67. 

Chronology,  45. 

Church  Establishments,  see  Christi- 
anity. 

Church,  Dr.,  67  >i. 

Churchill,  Charles,  25  n,  287. 

Churton,  Archdeacon,  64  n. 

Cibber,  Colley,  7. 

Cicero,  Gibbon  studies  him,  90; 
quoted,  118  n,  139;  knowledge 
of  Greek,  132  ;  circulation  of  the 
blood,  203  n  ;  first  editions,  254  ; 
philosophic  writings,  309. 

Clarendon,  First  Earl  of,  75  n,  81,  285. 

Clarke,  Godfrey,  169. 

Claron,  Madame,  153. 

Cleaver,  Rev.  Mr.,  169  n. 

Clement  XIII.,  164. 

Clement  XIV. ,  164. 

Clergy,  66  n. 

Cline,  Henry,  257. 

Clos  (du),  152,  307. 

Cluverius,  158. 

Coalition  Ministry,  214,  217,  227  n. 

Coke,  Sir  Edward,  8  n,  313. 

Coleridge,  Sir  J.  T. ,  293. 

Coleridge,  S.  T. ,  335. 

Colman,  George,  58  n,  65  n,  311. 

Condamine  (de  la),  152,  306. 


348 


INDEX 


Condorcet,  in  //,  296. 

Confucius,  4. 

Congreve,  William,  151  n. 

Constantine,  Emperor,  68  n. 

Constantine,  Robert,  302. 

Constantinople,  libraries  of,  120  n. 

Conversation,  220. 

Conversions,  72. 

Convocation,  274. 

Conway,  General,  175  n. 

Cork,  Countess  of,  250  //. 

Cornbury,  Lord,  29  n. 

Corneille,  105  n. 

Cornelius  Nepos,  35. 

Cornwallis,  Archbishop,  318. 

Corporation  and  Test  Acts,  193  ;/. 

Correvon,  — ,  294. 

Courtney,  Right  Hon.  L.  H. ,  313. 

Courtney,  W.  P.,  209  n,  314. 

Coventry,  Second  Earl  of,  12. 

Cowper,  William,  Westminster 
School,  46  n,  279,  287  ;  Maty, 
124  11  ;  Hayley,  230  n  ;  Gibbon 
and  Robertson,  297  ;  Raynal,  306  ; 
Bishop  Newton,  327. 

Cox,  Rev.  G.  V.,  288. 

Craufurd  of  Auchinames,  251,  260, 
264-5. 

Crtiqui,  Duke  of,  149  n. 

Crevier,  100. 

Cromers,  10. 

Crousaz  (de),  87,  96 

Crousaz  (de),  Madame,  342. 

Cumberland,  Duke  of,  127  n. 

Cumberland,  Richard,  279. 

Curchod,  Susan,  see  Necker. 

Dalrymple,  Sir  David  (Lord  Hailes), 
203-4. 

Darner,  Hon.  George  and  John,  169  n. 

DArblay,  Mme. ,  Gibbon  and  Cecilia, 
96  n  ;  Gibbon's  voice,  245  n  ;  — 
person,  248  n  ;  Lord  Eliot,  313. 

Darrell,  Edward,  26  n,  268. 

Darrell,  Robert,  26  n,  265. 

Darwin,  Charles,  50  n,  54  n. 

Darwin,  Francis,  50  n. 

Dashwood,  Sir  James,  58  n. 

Davey,  Samuel,  219  n. 

Davies,  Rev.  Henry  Edward,  202,  210, 

3i7- 

Davila,  44,  281,  296. 

Dece?itly,  20  n. 

Decli?ie  and  Fall,  accuracy,  231,  336  ; 
composition,  225  ;  conception,  pro- 
gress, and  deliverance,  167,  181, 
189,  225,  308,  331;  criticised, 
335  ;  dedication,  228  u  ;   editions, 


Dublin,  195,  233  ;  —  foreign,  233  ; 
"grouping  the  picture,"  224; 
happiness  in  writing  it,  242 ; 
indecency,  230,  336;  irreligion, 
201,  230,  325,  336  ;  notes,  233  n  ; 
presented  to  a  Duke,  127  n  ; 
publication  and  profits,  195,  209, 
229.  3*5-  33°;  style,  190,  224, 
297,  315  ;  title,  189  ;  translations, 
210,  212,  232,  337;  vol.  i.,  193; 
vols.  ii.  and  iii. ,  200,  209  ;  vols, 
iv.,  v.,  and  vi.,  214,  223,  229. 

Deffand  (du),  Mme.,  316. 

Delany,  Mrs.,  48  n. 

Delink,  Peter,  27. 

D6meunier,  Count,  232,  337. 

Denbigh,  Earls  of,  4. 

Dennis,  John,  22  n,  274. 

Destouches,  P.  N. ,  218  n. 

Devonshire,  Duke  of,  264. 

Devonshire,  Georgiana,  Duchess  of, 
252. 

Deyverdun,  George,  Gibbon,  early 
friendship  with,  86,  93 ;  —  visits. 
168  ;  —  Swiss  History,  171  ;  — 
shares  his  house,  216  ;  Mtmoires 
Littiraires,  173 ;  tutor,  176 ; 
reads  MS.  of  The  Decline,  225 
n  ;   death,  235. 

Dicey,  Professor  A.  V.,  293. 

Diderot,  152. 

Digby,  Lord,  258  n. 

Dodd,  James  William,  279. 

Dodwell,  Dr.,  67  n,  302. 

Domesticated,  115. 

Douglas,  Sylvester  (Lord  Glenbervie), 
249  n. 

Dow,  Colonel  Alexander,  316. 

Droit  de  retrait,  235. 

Dryden,  John,  army,  298  ;  astrology, 
13  n  ;  author's  judgment  of  his 
own  works,  191  n  ;  confutation, 
321  ;  controversial  books,  69  n  ; 
conversion,  75  n  ;  Epistle  to  Knel- 
ler,  43  n  ;  The  Hind  and  the 
Panther,  70,  71,  78  n  ;  History  of 
the  League,  312  ;  lucid  interval, 
34  71  ;  Oxford,  50  n  ;  "  tracking 
in  their  snow,"  201  n  ;  Virgil,  38. 

Dublin  pirates,  195. 

Dugdale,  Sir  William,  13. 

Dumesnil,  Madame,  153. 

Dummer,  — ,  27. 

Dunning,  John  (Lord  Ashburton),  193, 
207,  256  n,  311. 

Eachard,  Lawrence,  45,  282. 
Edgar,  Sir  Gregory,  11. 


INDEX 


349 


Edgeworth,  Maria,  316. 
Edgeworth,  R.  L. ,  289. 
Edmonstone,  Colonel,  169  ;/. 
Education,  341. 
Edward  the  Black  Prince,  144. 
Edwards,  Rev.  Thomas,  LL.  D.,  204. 
Effingham,  Earl  of,  137,  300-1. 
Egerton,  T.  and  J.,  325. 
Egremont,  Lord,  250-1. 
Einsidlen,  99. 

Eldon,  First  Earl  of,  289,  292. 
Eliot,  Edward  (First  Lord  Eliot),  21,  82, 
86  n,  191,  208,  268,  313,  323,  324, 

329- 
Eliot,  Lady,  21,  268. 
Eliot,  Sir  John,  21  n. 
Elliot,  Sir  Gilbert  (Earl  of  Minto),  334. 
Elliston,  Catherine,  21. 
Elliston,  Edward,  21. 
Elmsley,  Peter,  194,  251,  255. 
Emerson,  R.  W. ,  225  //. 
Emmius,  282. 
England,    prosperity,   227  ;     language 

and  literature,  233,  310. 
Entails,  185  n. 
Enthusiasm,  22,  163. 
Erasmus,  6,  52  n,  131,  237. 
Erskine,  Lord  Chancellor,  257  n. 
Erskine,  Monsignor,  260. 
Erudits,  123. 

Esquires  and  gentlemen,  8,  273. 
Ethico,  Duke  of  Alsace,  4. 
Eton  College  Library,  284. 
Eugenius  IV.,  182  n. 
Eusebius,  22  n,  46  //. 
Evelyn,  John,  166  n. 
Exmouth,  Viscount,  25  n. 

Fables,  35. 

Fame,  241. 

Farquhar,  Sir  Walter,  256,  259,  262, 

266. 
Farquhar,  — ,  256  n. 
Fathers  and  sons,  186  n. 
Fell,  Bishop,  286. 
Fenton,  Elijah,  274. 
Ferdinand  IV.  of  Naples,  164. 
Ferrara,  165. 
Fielding,    Henry,    Jacobites,    26     n  ; 

Tom  Jones,  4,  243  ;  schools,  34  n, 

40   n  ;    tour   of    Europe,    166   n ; 

Hoadley's  Plain    Account,    275  ; 

Mandeville,  275. 
Fiens,  James  (Baron  Say  and  Seale), 

10. 
Filmer,  Sir  Robert,  312. 
Finden,  John,  61  n,  283. 
Fines,  56. 


Fisher,  John,  74. 

Fitzpatrick,  Colonel,  329. 

Fleury,  Abbti  de,  97  n. 

Florence,  147,  162,  171,  229. 

Flying  post,  263. 

Folard,  J.  C.  de,  138  n. 

Foncemagne  (de),  143,  153,  199,  308. 

Fontenelle,  125,  152,  243,  343. 

Foothead,  — ,  210. 

Fortescue,  G.  K.,  32  n. 

Foster,  Lady  Elizabeth,  342. 

Fowler,  Thomas,  D.D.,  286. 

Fox,  Charles  James,  American  war, 
323,  324  ;  Burke's  Bill  of  Reform, 
323 ;  character,  222,  331 ;  coali- 
tion ministry,  214,  328  ;  debater, 
193  ;  Gibbon,  271,  324  ;  influence, 
208  n,  213  n  ;  Irish  trade,  333  ; 
Lausanne,  221-2,  331  ;  Literary 
Club,  311  ;  medical  science,  258 
n  ;  Oxford,  289  ;  Pitt,  compared 
with,  192  n  ;  resigns  office,  328  ; 
Septennial  Act,  19  n  ;  Test  Acts, 
340  ;  thirty-nine  articles,  290. 

France,  Anglomania,  151  ;  authors, 
152  ;  historians,  173  ;  language, 
109,  132,  172,  310;  people,  150; 
prisoners,  123 ;  Revolution,  237, 
248,  253,  260,  339  ;  society,  316  ; 
soldiers,  257  n  ;  splendour,  150  ; 
war,    109,    134,   151,   206  n. 

Francis,  Rev.  Philip,  42. 

Francis,  Sir  Philip,  42  n. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  196  n,  207  u,  314. 

Frederick  the  Great,  Beausobre,  140  n  ; 
greatness,  132,  161  ;  happiness, 
241  n  ;  Prince  Henry,  330  ;  Quintus 
Icilius,  138  n  ;  Raynal,  306  ; 
Voltaire,    103,    154  n. 

Freret,  111  n. 

Frey,  82. 

Froben,  John,  52  n. 

Gale,  Thomas,  D.D.,  142. 

Galton,  Arthur,  281. 

Game  laws,  117. 

Garat,  D.  J.,  245  n,  248  n. 

Garrick,  David,  114,  304,  311. 

Gascoyne,  Sir  Thomas,  169  n. 

Gay,  John,  116  n,  166  n. 

Gee,  — ,  85  n. 

Geneva,  222  n,  223,  238  n. 

Genius,  143,  303. 

Genius  of  the  place,  50. 

Genlis  (de),  Madame,  342. 

Gennadius,  Patriarch,  71  n. 

Genoa,  161. 

Gentleman's  Magazine,  230  n. 


350 


INDEX 


Geoffrin,  Madame,  153,  307. 

George  I.,  29  n,  27$,  291,  327. 

George  II.,  32. 

George  III.,  a  Briton,  338  ;  Chatham, 
Lord,  203  n  ;  coronation,  137  //  ; 
Fox,  329  ;  Gibbon,  212  n  ;  Hessian 
troops,  134  n  ;  Hurd's  Dialogues, 
146  n  ;  North,  Lord,  208  n  ;  slave 
trade,  334  ;  subpreceptor,  141  n  ; 
Warburton,  179 #  ;  Wedderburne, 
207  n. 

George  IV.,  80  n,  215  n,  256  ;/. 

Germain,  Lord  George,  323. 

German  mercenaries,  134. 

Gesner,  Matthew,  101. 

Giannone,  97. 

Gibbon,  Catherine  (Mrs.  Elliston),  21, 
23,  276. 

Gibbon,  Dorothea  (the  historian's  step- 
mother), 113,  117,  168,  198  n,  251, 

253.  269  "■ 

Gibbon,  Edmund,  10. 

Gibbon,  Edward  (1602),  8  n. 

Gibbon,  Edward  (the  historian's  grand- 
father), birth,  15  ;  South  Sea  Com- 
pany, 16-20,  239  //  ;  second  fortune, 
20  ;  death,  21  ;  Borough  of  Peters- 
field,  25,  276 ;  Jacobite,  32  n  ; 
stern  parent,  112. 

Gibbon,  Edward  (historian's  father), 
marriage,  21,  26  ;  birth  and  edu- 
cation, 23  ;  member  for  Petersfield, 
25,  277  ;  alderman,  29  ;  wife,  death 
of,  36  ;  son's  conversion,  73  ;  son's 
return,  112 ;  second  marriage,  112  ; 
retirement,  115  ;  racehorse,  118  ; 
his  son's  Essai,  126-7  ;  militia,  135  ; 
debts,  168,  185,  323  ;  death,  186. 

GIBBON,  EDWARD,  Chief  Events 
of  His  Life. 
Born  27th  April ,  o.  s.  (8th  May ,  N.  s. ) , 

1737,  26. 
Death  of  his  mother  (1747),  36. 
Enters  Westminster  School  (1748  or 

r749).  39,  278. 
Enters   Magdalen    College,    Oxford 

(1752),  43. 
Converted  to  Rome  (1753),  72. 
Re-converted  (1754),  90. 
Sent  to  Lausanne  (1753),  82. 
Engaged   to    Mile.    Curchod  (1757), 

106. 
Returns  to  England  (1758),  109. 
Pinters  the  Militia  (1760),  135. 
Publishes   Essai   sur  I' 'Etude   de  la 

Littirature  (1761),  127. 
Begins  his  foreign  tour  (1763),  148. 


Sat  amidst  the  ruins  of  the  Capitol 

(15th  October,  1764),  167. 
Returns  to  England  (1765),  168. 
Finishes  his  Introduction  a  I' Histoire 

Gt'ndrale   de   la  Re'publique   des 

Suisses  (1768),  172. 
Publishes  Mdmoires  Lilte'raires  de  la 

Grande  Bretagne  (1768-69),  175. 
Publishes    Critical    Observations   on 

the   Sixth   Book   of  the   sEneid 

(1770),  179. 
Death  of  his  father  (1770),  186. 
House  in  London  (1773),  187. 
Elected    M.P.    for    Liskeard  (1774), 

191. 
Publishes  vol.  i.  of  The  Decline  and 

Fall  (17th  February,  1776),  194, 

315. 
Trip  to  Paris  (1777),  198. 
Publishes    Vindication,    etc.    (1779)) 

202. 
Writes  Mt'moire  Justificatif  (1779), 

205. 
Commissioner  of  Trade  (1779),  207. 
Parliament  dissolved  (1780),  208. 
Publishes   vols.    ii.    and   iii.   of    The 

Decline  and  Fall  (1st    March, 

1781),  209. 
Elected  M.P.  for  Lymington  (1781), 

212. 
Ceases  to  be  Commissioner  of  Trade 

(1782),  213. 
Retires  to  Lausanne  (1783),  216. 
Writes  the  last  lines  of  The  Decline 

and    Fall    (27th    June,     1787), 

225. 
Visits  England  (1787),  226. 
Publishes  last    three    vols,    of    The 

Decline    and    Fall    (8th    May, 

1788),  229. 
Returns  to  Lausanne  (1788),  234. 
Death  of  Deyverdun  (1789),  235. 
Returns  to  England  (1793),  248. 
Dies  (16th  January,  1794),  264. 

Gibbon,  Edward,  Age  of  Sesostris, 
63 ;  allowance,  48,  84,  148  n ; 
American  war,  191,  314  ;  anatomy 
and  chemistry,  200  ;  Bath,  41,  253  ; 
Bentinck  Street  house,  187,  218  n  ; 
birth,  26,  229;  Board  of  Trade, 
207,  213,  215,  323 ;  boyish  years, 
46 ;  brothers  and  sister,  27,  29  ; 
Buriton,  117, 187;  canvassing,  119; 
card-playing,  220  ;  character,  111, 
153  n,  240,  294,  300,  316,  336-7; 
Chesterfield's  Letters,  176  n;  Coali- 
tion Ministry,  215,  329  ;  common- 


INDEX 


351 


place  book,  98  ;  conversation,  245, 
250,  262 ;  correspondence  with 
scholars,  100 ;  country  life,  117, 
187  ;z,  219  n  ;  critics,  242;  dancing, 
86,  215  n  ;  death,  264 ;  Decline 
and  Fall,  see  ante  under  Decline 
and  Fall;  Deyverdun,  friendship 
with,  86,  168,  173,  216,  235  ;  dis- 
guised as  a  Dutch  officer,  no; 
Dissertation  on  Charles  VIII., 
144  ;  Dissertation  on  Virgil,  93 ; 
Downing  Street,  227 ;  education 
at  Lausanne,  108  ;  English,  study 
of,  122  ;  Englishman,  ceases  to  be 
an,  109,  293  ;  —  made  an,  138  ;  — 
glories  in  the  name,  338  ;  enthusi- 
asm, 163;  envy,  not  susceptible  of, 
170  ;  epitaph,  270  ;  exercise,  249  ; 
fame,  love  of,  241  n  ;  father,  treat- 
ment by  his,  112  ;  —  dedication  to, 
127 ;  foreign  embassy,  proposed 
employment  on,  113  ;  Freemason, 
93  n ;  French,  knowledge  of,  85, 
130-4, 172  ;  — loan,  339  ;  —  people, 
150,  238  n,  247  ;  friend,  warm,  248  ; 
future  state,  248  n  ;  Gallicisms, 
109  n,  224;  gaming,  85  n  ;  gentle- 
man, not  an  author,  151  n ; 
German,  ignorance  of,  147,  233  ; 
Greek,  94,  121,  129,  141,  184,  214, 
234,  299  ;  happiness,  242  n  ;  health, 

30,  42,  218  n,  241,  247,  256-66  ; 
historian,  aspired  to  be  an,  122, 
143,  296 ;  historical  compositions 
planned,  143-8,  171,  234^;  history, 
love  of,  43,  44 ;  Holroyd,  meets, 
157;  "home,"  226  n;  ignorance 
of  the  people,  341  ;  income,  187, 
215,  241,  243,  247,  323,  329; 
independence,  169,  188  ;  indolence, 
84  n,  249  ;  Inquisition  upheld, 
341  ;  Italian,  162  ;  journal,  298  ; 
Lausanne  (1753-58),  82-110;  — 
(1763-4),  154-60;  —(1783-87),  216- 
26,  329;  —  (1788-93),  234-9;  — 
house  (La  Grotte),  218,  235,  246, 
295  ;  —  summer-house,  225,  331 ; 
law,  study  of,  95,  113,  184  ;  library, 
119,  216,  219,  222,  234,  338  ;  life, 
lot  in,  26,  239 ;  —  chances  of,  243, 
265.  343;  Literary  Club,  311; 
Lives  of  Eminent  Persons  planned, 
235  n\  London,  love  of,  114;  — 
its  solitude,  218  n  ;  —  its  tumult, 
233 ;  love  and  matrimony,  105, 
153  ».  x57  n,  241,  293,  342; 
Madeira  wine,  265  ;  mathematics, 

31,  95 ;    memory,    104 ;    militia, 


119,  127,  135-41,  148,  158  n,  168- 
70,  295,  298-303  ;  Miscellaneous 
Works,  315  ;  mortgages,  185  ; 
mother's  death,  36  ;  natural 
beauties,  219  n  ;  novel-reading, 
96 ;  office-seeker,  193  n  ;  Oxford 
(1752-3),  46-73,  283;  —  (1793), 
251  11,  284;  Paris  (1763),  148, 
157;  —  (i777).  198;  parliament, 
member    of   (1774-80),    191,    208  ; 

—  (1781-3),  212,  215,  216  n  ;  — 
votes,  191,  314  ;  patriotism,  340 ; 
person,  86  n,  89  n,  161  n,  248, 
256  n,  311  ;  portraits,  86  n,  209  n, 
269  n,  331;  "poverty,"  329; 
Principes  des  Poids,  etc.,  121  ; 
professions,  170  ;  Putney,  37  ; 
reading,  37,  43,  63,  85-98,  119, 
140,  158,  299  ;  riding,  86  ;  Roman 
Catholic,  67 ;  —  re-conversion, 
89,  293  ;  Roman  Club,  169 ; 
Rome,  163,  164,  167,  308  ;  school 
life,  Putney,  31  ;  —  Kingston,  34  ; 

—  Westminster,  39,  278  ;  — 
Esher,  42  ;  Scotch  flattered,  206  n  ; 
servant,  84;  shyness,  116;  slave- 
trade,  334;  solitude,  118,  236; 
sports,  87  n,  117  ;  step-mother, 
112,  251  ;  studying,  method  of, 
122;  —  hours  of,  224;  style,  1, 
189,  201,  245,  297;  Swiss,  liking 
for  the,  238  n,  338;  tailor's  bill, 
219  n  ;  "  The  Gibbon,"  234  n  ; 
tour,  Swiss,  98  ;  —  foreign,  148- 
168  ;  tutor,  31  ;  untruthfulness, 
112  n ,  113  n,  226  n  ;  vanity,  331  ; 
verses,  38  11 ;  Wedgewood  ware, 
218  n  ;  will,  235  n,  268. 

Gibbon,  Hester  (the  historian's  grand- 
mother), 15. 

Gibbon,  Hester  (the  historian's  aunt), 
21,  23,  276. 

Gibbon,  John  (Marmorarius),  8. 

Gibbon,  John  (Bluemantle),  8n,  12. 

Gibbon,  Judith  (the  historian's  mother), 
26,  36. 

Gibbon,  Matthew,  n,  15. 

Gibbon,  Robert  (1618),  10  n,  n. 

Gibbon,  Robert  (1643),  XJ- 

Gibbon,  Thomas  (1596),  n  n. 

Gibbon,   Thomas  (Dean  of  Carlisle), 

15- 
Girondins,  260. 

Glaciers,  98. 

Gloucester,  Duke  of,  127  n. 

Godefroy,  James,  182. 

Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  229  n. 

Goldoni,  7. 


352 


INDEX 


Goldsmith,  Oliver,  a  notable  man,  15 
n ;  Gibbon's  companion,  130  11, 
169  n ;  Italy  described,  165  n ; 
worked  in  a  garret,  243  n  ;  Re- 
taliation, 282  ;  Literary  Club,  311. 

Gordon  Riots,  208,  314. 

Gordon,  Thomas,  44,  281. 

Graevius,  158. 

Grafton,  Duke  of,  213  n. 

Grammont,  Comte  de,  11  n. 

Gratian,  87  n. 

Graves,  Rev.  Richard,  197  n. 

Gray,  Thomas,  Bolton,  Duke  of,  119 
n  ;  Cambridge,  57  n  ;  Mann,  Sir 
Horace,  162  n  ;  Mont  Cenis,  160 
n  ;  Naples,  164  n  ;  New  Bath 
Guide,  174  n ;  Rome,  163  n  ; 
Warburton,  180  n. 

Greek,  94. 

Green,  Bishop,  326. 

Grenier,  Madame,  332. 

Grew,  Dr.  Nehemiah,  13. 

Grigsby,  — ,  18  n. 

Grimm  (de),  Baron,  125  n,  296,  305. 

Grote,  George,  wasted  time,  118  n  ; 
Gibbon,  202  n,  336  ;  neglect  of 
health,  259  n. 

Grotius,  96,  121  n. 

Gudin  de  la  Brenellerie,  199  n. 

Guicciardini,  296. 

Guichard  (Quintus  Icilius),  138. 

Guignes  (de),  152,  307. 

Guize,  Sir  William,  169  n. 

Guizot,  336,  338. 

Habsburgh,  Counts  of,  4. 

Hai  Ebn  Yokhdan,  33. 

Hale,  Sir  Matthew,  9  n. 

Hall,  Bishop  Joseph,  284. 

Halley,  Dr.  Edmund,  302. 

Halliday,  — ,  339. 

Hamilton,  Count  Anthony,  133. 

Hamilton,  Sir  William,  163  n,  164. 

Hamilton,  Lady,  164  n. 

Hannibal,  159. 

Hardinge,  George,  324. 

Hardwicke,  Lord  Chancellor,  10  /?. 

Hare,  Francis,  278. 

Harley,  Nathanael  and  Thomas,  273. 

Harrison,  Colonel,  285. 

Harrison,  — ,  302. 

Harte,  Rev.  Walter,  82  n. 

Hartley,  Mrs.,  254. 

Harvey,  Colonel,  300. 

Hastings,  Warren,  228,  287,  334,  340. 

Hastings,  Mrs.,  277. 

Haussonville  (d'),  Viscount,  294. 

Hawes,  — ,  20  n. 


Hawke,  Admiral,  136  n. 

Hawkins,  Sir  Caesar,  258. 

Hayley,  William,  180,  230,  250,  317, 
335- 

Hearne,  Thomas,  44,  61  n,  274-5,  2%°> 
282  n. 

Helvetius,  153,  308. 

Helvicus,  Christophorus,  45,  283. 

Henault,  President,  91  n. 

Henley,  Robert,  Earl  of  Northington, 
27. 

Henrietta  Maria,  74. 

Henry  IV.  of  France,  213  n. 

Henry  V. ,  144. 

Henry  of  Prussia,  Prince,  221,  222,  330. 

Heraclius,  309. 

Heraldry,  12. 

Herbelot  (d'),  45,  63  11. 

Herodotus,  184  n. 

Hervey,  John,  Lord,  25  n,  298. 

Hervey,  Lady,  115,  151. 

Hervey,  John  Augustus,  Lord,  252. 

Heyne,  Professor,  180. 

Higgins,  — ,  201. 

Hilsea  Barracks,  136. 

Historians,  English,  122,  295. 

Hoadley,  Archbishop,  275. 

Hoadley,  Bishop  Benjamin,  23,  274. 

Hoare,  — ,  44. 

Hobbes,  Thomas,  12. 

Hogarth,  William,  304. 

Holcroft,  Sir  H.,  281. 

Holland,  Charles,  304. 

Holland,  Third  Lord,  Burke,  340 ; 
Hamilton,  Sir  W. ,  164  n  ;  Hol- 
land House,  252  n  ;  Horsley,  322  ; 
Naples,  276  ;  North,  Lord,  328. 

Holroyd,  John  Baker,  see  Sheffield, 
Earl  of. 

Holroyd,  Louisa,  255-6,  269. 

Holroyd,  Maria  Josepha(Lady  Stanley 
of  Alderley),  Gibbon's  love  affairs, 
107  n,  342 ;  —  at  Lausanne,  238 
n ;  —  conversation,  245  n  ;  — 
influence  on  Lord  Sheffield,  268 
n  ;  —  will,  269  ;  Prince  of  Wales, 
256  n. 

Holroyd,  Sarah  Martha,  253  n,  268  >i. 

Home,  Sir  Everard,  257  n. 

Home,  Rev.  John,  105  n,  207  n. 

Homer,  38,  141. 

Hondt  (de),  P.  A.,  127. 

Honoria,  107  n. 

Hook,  Dean,  275. 

Hooker,  Sir  J.  D. ,  51  n. 

Hooker,  Richard,  49,  286. 

Hope,  Professor,  54  n. 

Hopital  (de  1'),  95. 


INDEX 


353 


Horace,  Hurd's  edition,  142  ;  quota- 
tions from  Ars  Poetica,  125,  191  ; 
Epistles,  240  ;  Epodes,  185  ;  Odes, 
179,  243  n  ;  Satires,  310. 

Home,  Bishop  George,  288. 

Horsley,  Bishop  Samuel,  203,  322. 

Horsman,  Edward,  313. 

Hort,  Sir  John,  169  n. 

Hotel,  255  n. 

Hotham,  Baron,  277. 

Howard,  Sir  Charles,  300. 

Howe,  Earl,  261-2. 

Howell,  Dr.  William,  45,  282. 

Huet,  Bishop,  7. 

Huguenots,  132. 

Hume,  Sir  Abraham,  216  n. 

Hume,  David,  American  war,  314, 
333  ;  Autobiography,  6  ;  charac- 
ter, 316;  death,  198;  deists,  115 
n ;  English  hated,  196,  310 ; 
genius,  303 ;  Gibbon's  writings, 
172  n,  190,  195,  206  ;/,  233  n,  310  ; 
historians,  295  ;  History  of  Eng- 
land, 122,  195  n,  296,  299 ; 
Home's  Douglas,  105  n  ;  impar- 
tial, 146 ;  Lyttelton's  History,  174 
n  ;  old  age,  244,  344  ;  Ossian,  315  ; 
Paris,  152  n  ;  Rousseau,  175  n  ; 
style,  232,  297  ;  transubstantiation, 
89  n  ;  Under-secretary,  175  ;  Wal- 
pole's  Historic-  Doubts,  176  ri  ; 
Warburton,   178  n. 

Hunter,  Dr.,  200. 

Hurd,  Bishop  Richard,  Delicacy  of 
Friendship,  178  ;  Dialogues,  146  ; 
enthusiasm,  22  n;  George  IV. 's 
preceptor,  80  n  ;  Horace's  Epistles, 
142  ;  Priestley,  203,  319. 

Hurdis,  James,  65  n,  289. 

Husbands,  Rev.  J.,  284. 

Huskisson,  William,  313. 

Hyde,  Thomas,  D.D.,  61. 

Hypolitus,  278. 

Illen,  Nanette  de,  295. 

Image-worship,  69,  tj. 

Influence    of    the    Crown,    119,    207, 

213  n. 
Innate  ideas,  43. 
Innocent  III.,  71  n. 
Inquisition,  71  n,  341. 
Institution,  31  n. 
Inverary,  150. 
Ireland,  227,  314,  333. 
Italy,  165. 

Jackson,  Cyril,  D.D.,  81  n. 
Jackson,  Richard,  D,D.,  58  n. 

23 


Jacobites,  25. 

James  I. ,  74  11. 

James  II.,  13. 

James,  John,  59  it,  62  n,  66  n,  284, 

288,  290,  292. 
Jekyll,  Joseph,  250. 
Jerusalem,  Temple  of,  97. 

Jesuits,  126  n,  164  //. 

John,  King,  71  n. 

Johnson,  Samuel,  arithmetic,  31  n  ; 
army,  298  ;  Behmen  and  Law,  22 
n  ;  beliefs,  78  n  ;  Benedictines, 
56  n  ;  biography,  6  n  ;  Bologna, 
165  a  ;  Bos  well,  72  -v  ;  boyhood, 
46  n  ;  brothers  and  sisters,  27  ;/  ; 
Burke,  134  n  ;  Burman,  278  ; 
character,  1  n  ;  common  rooms, 
287 ;  composition,  201  n  ;  conversa- 
tion, 220  n  ;  death  of  a  wife,  36  n  ; 
declamations,  288  ;  education,  342  ; 
fame,  242  n  ;  flattery,  242  n  ; 
garret,  243  n  ;  genius,  143,  303  ; 
Giannone,  97  n  ;  Gibbon,  73  n, 
311,  312  ;Grotius,i2i  n  ;  historians, 
295  ;  Hume,  297  ;  Inverary,  150 
n  ;  lapidary  inscriptions,  271  ;/  ; 
Law's  Serious  Call,  275  ;  lectures, 
54  n  ;  library,  219  n  ;  lucid  inter- 
val, 34  n  ;  Lyttelton's  History,  174 
n  ;  Mallet,  115,  305  ;  Maty,  124  n  ; 
memory,  98,  104  n  ;  merchants, 
273  ;  new  style,  26  n  ;  Newton, 
Bishop,  326-7  ;  nonjurors,  274  ; 
North's  ministry,  314,  328  ;  Ossian, 
316  ;  Oxford  vacation,  62  n  ;  Paris, 
316  ;  patronage,  243  n  ;  Pom- 
ponius  Mela,  159  n  ;  Popery. 
75  11  ;  Queen's  library,  188  n  ; 
Raynal,  306  ;  read  rarely,  336  ; 
Robertson,  297  ;  Sarpi's  History, 
282  ;  Scott,  Dr.,  292  ;  solitude, 
218  n  ;  style,  1  n  ;  subordination, 
3  n  ;  Taylor  &  Ward,  30  n  ; 
Thuanus,  6  n  ;  Thurlow,  193  n  ■ 
travelling,  167  u  ;  universities 
abroad,  166  n  ;  Usher,  Arch- 
bishop, 283  ;  Voltaire  and  Hume, 
296;  Warburton,  178  n ;  Young 
Pretender,  28  n. 

Johnstone,  John,  M.D.,  320. 

Jolliffe,  Hylton,  277. 

lolliffe,  Sir  William,  277. 

Jones,  Sir  William,  62  n,  94  n,  289,  311. 

Jonson,  Ben.,  201  n. 

Jordan,  C.  E.,  47  n,  56  n,  203  n. 

Jortin,  John,  D.D. ,  178  ;/. 

Journal  Britannique,  124,  173. 

Journals,  134  n. 


354 


INDEX 


Joyner,  William,  7  n. 
Julian,  Emperor,  97,  209. 
Justinian,  Emperor,  231. 
Juvenal,  2  n. 

Kerseboom,  A.,  29  ?i. 
King,  Dr.  William,  285. 
Kirk,  — ,  210. 
Kirkby,  Rev.  John,  31. 
Knolles,  Richard,  312. 

La  Bruyere,  23. 

La  Fontaine,  12  n,  35  11. 

Lamb,  Charles,  15  n,  72  n,  314. 

Lamb,  Mary,  72  n. 

Landor,  W.  S. ,  336. 

Langer,  — ,  14. 

Languet  de  Gergy,  150  n. 

Lansdowne,  Third  Marquis  of,  257  n. 

Lardner,  Nathaniel,  D. D. ,  97  n,  183. 

Latin,  131. 

Laud,  Archbishop,  75  n. 

Lauffer,  — ,  172. 

Lausanne,  academy,  100  n,  222 ; 
boarding-house,  156 ;  described, 
83,  246  ;  French  emigrants,  237  ; 
frequented,  98  n,  103  n  ;  Gibbon's 
love  of  it,  no,  216,  338  ;  —  sum- 
mer-house, 331  ;  lake,  338  ;  la 
soctete  du  printemps,  156  ;  society, 
220. 

Law,  William,  21-4,  120,  186,  273. 

Lawyers,  187  n. 

Leake,  Major,  300. 

Le  Clerc,  88,  98  n,  124,  301. 

Le  Clerc  de  Septchenes,  232,  337. 

Legge,  H.  B.,  119. 

Leibnitz,  132. 

Leo  IV.,  163  n. 

Le  Sueur,  Jean,  86. 

Le  Vade,  269. 

Lew,  172. 

Lewis  IX.,  71  n. 

Lewis  XIV.,  Convertissenr,  72  n  ; 
persecutions,  78  ;  Academy,  120  ; 
Versailles,  149. 

Lewis  XV.,  in  n. 

Lewis  XVI.,  described  by  Gibbon, 
150  n,  212;  gift  to  Prince  Henry, 
330 ;  translation  of  The  Decline, 
337  ;  death,  340. 

Lewis  of  Wirtemberg,  Prince,  154. 

Lewis,  a  bookseller,  72. 

Life,  chances  of,  26,  239,  243,  343  ;  — 
autumnal  felicity,  244,  343. 

Limborch,  88. 

Lind,  John,  205  n. 

Line,  43  n. 


Lipsius,  123. 

Liskeard,  191,  209,  313. 

Literary  Club,  311. 

Littlebury,  Isaac,  44,  280. 

Liverpool,  First  Earl  of,  213  n. 

Livy,  100,  121. 

Lloyd,  Robert,  287. 

Locke,  John,   Board  of    Trade,   322  ; 

Common-place    Book,    98 ;    innate 

ideas,    43    n  ;     Oxford,    49,    286 ; 

philosophy,  80,  88,  102  ;    Treatise 

of  government,  96. 
London,  no  public  library,  188  n. 
Long,  Dudley,  334. 
Longinus,  142. 
Lovibond,  — ,  64  n. 
Lowth,   Bishop  Robert,    49,    55,    179, 

285. 
Lucan,  151. 

Lucan,  First  Earl  of,  255,  258,  264. 
Lucan,  Countess  of,  257,  264. 
Lucian,  237. 
Lucid  interval,  34. 
Lyttelton,  First  Lord,  173. 

Mabillon,  158. 

Mably  (de),  Abbe\  199,  224  n,  317. 

Macaulay,  Lord,  Bentley  and  Porson, 
325  ;  Boswell's  writings,  233  n  ; 
Coalition  Ministry,  328,  329  ;  Gib- 
bon reported  a  Mahometan,  73  n  ; 
—  The  Decline,  320 ;  —  poverty, 
329 ;  historians,  296 ;  Holland 
House,  252  n  ;  Magdalen  College, 
56  n  ;  Milner,  319,  320  ;  Procopius, 
281  ;  Robertson,  297  ;  Sarpi,  282  ; 
Warburton,  178  n. 

Macdonald,  Chief  Baron  Archibald, 
6s  n. 

Machiavel,  44,  281,  296. 

Mackintosh,   Sir   James,   201    n,    321, 

332.  33°- 

Macpherson,  James,  see  Ossian. 

Maffei,  182. 

Magdalen  College,  48,  50,  55-73.  283, 
288. 

Mahomet,  223  n,  312. 

Mallet,  David,  Elvira,  148,  304  ;  Gib- 
bon, 82,  115,  122,  126,  131,  151, 
300  ;  Life  of  Bacon,  145  ;  —  of 
Marlborough,   304. 

Mallet,  Lucy,  115. 

Malmesbury,  First  Earl  of,  289,  292. 

Malone,  Edmond,  84  n,  218  n,  245  n, 
256  n. 

Malony,  John  Baptist,  291. 

Maltby,  William,  195  n. 

Mandeville,  Bernard,  M.D. ,  23,  275. 


INDEX 


nf. 


35: 


Manetho,  63. 

Mann,  Sir  Horace,  162. 

Mansfield,    First    Earl    of,    297,    308, 

327- 
Margoliouth,  Rev.  Professor,  33  n. 
Marini£,  232  »,  337. 
Markham,  Archbishop,  80,  279. 
Marlborough,  First  Duke   of,   4,  304. 
Marlborough,   Henrietta,   Duchess  of, 

4«. 
Marolles  (de),  Michael,  7. 
Marsham,  Sir  John,  45,  63. 
Marvell,  Andrew,  82  n. 
Masham,  Lady,  286. 
Mason,  Rev.  William,  266. 
Matthews,  Henry,  339. 
Maty,  Matthew,  M.D.,  124,  136,  134, 

IS1  n>  r73- 
Maty,  Paul  Henry,  124. 

Maupertuis,  103  n. 

Maurice,  Rev.  F.  D. ,  275. 

Maynard,  Sir  John,  11  ?i. 

Mayor,  Professor,  274. 

Mead,  Richard,  M.D.,  203  n. 

Meard,  Captain,  302. 

Medicis,  House  of,  147. 

Mtmoires  Littdraires  de  la  Grande 
Bretagne,   173. 

Mesery  (de),  156. 

Methodism,  197  n. 

Meuselius,  231. 

Mezeray,  44,  281. 

Meziriac,  93. 

Middleton,  Lord  Chancellor  (Ireland), 
17  n. 

Middleton,  Lord,  216  n. 

Middleton,  Conyers,  D.  D.,  67,  91,  321. 

Militia,  119,  135,  168,  301. 

Mill,  John  Stuart,  95  n,  336. 

Millar,  Andrew,  243  n. 

Milman,  Dean,  210  n,  292. 

Milner,  Joseph,  203,  319. 

Milton,  John,  foreign  travel,  166  n ; 
foundations  of  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge, 51  11  ;  school  divinity,  52 
n  ;  quotations  from  Lycidas,  74, 
242  n  ;  —  Paradise  Lost,  3  n,  102, 

i92.  338- 
Minto,  Countess  of,  334. 
Mirabeau  (de),  Count,  222,  330. 
Mirabeau  (de),  Marquis,  331. 
Miracles,  68,  183. 
Moivre  (de),  Abraham,  141. 
Molesworth,  Viscount,  17. 
Molesworth,  — ,  69  n. 
Monks,  52,  56  n,  57,  69. 
Monson,  Sir  William,  145. 
Montaigne,  6. 


Montesquieu,  read  by  Gibbon,  96 ; 
Italy,  165,  166  ;  laws  against  Po- 
pery, 291  ;  compared  with  Gibbon, 
315  ;  —  with  Mably,  317  ;  tithes, 

34°- 
Montfaucon,  158. 

Montolieu  (de),  Madame,  157  n,  342. 
Montrose,  Marquis  of,  144. 
Moore,  Arthur,  18  n. 
More,  Hannah,  242  n,  266  n,  276. 
Morfill,  W.  R.,  in  n. 
Morley,  John,  336. 
Mortimer,  T. ,  221  n. 
Motley,  J.  L. ,  194  n. 
Moulton,  — ,  293. 
Muratori,  182. 
Murphy,  Arthur,  312. 
Murray,  John,  194  n,  315. 

Naples,  163. 

Napoleon  Buonaparte,  221  n,  339,  344. 

National  Debt,  314. 

Navigation  Act,  226,  333. 

Necker,  Jacques,  minister  of  France, 
108,  198 ;  marriage,  108,  294 ; 
war  with  England,  206  n  ;  Copet, 
219  n,  222  ;  Treatise  on  the 
Finances,  221  ;  letters,  332. 

Necker,  Madame  (Susan  Curchod), 
engaged  to  Gibbon,  106,  293 ; 
married  Necker,  108 ;  Gibbon 
visits  her,  198,  221,  247,  295  ;  re- 
ceptions, 308. 

Nelson,  Admiral  Viscount,  164  n,  251 
n. 

Nestorius,  99  u. 

Newbery,  Francis,  289,  292. 

Newman,  Cardinal,  201  n. 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  Chronology,  45,  63, 
106  11,  129  ;  poetry,  304. 

Newton,  Rev.  John,  297. 

Newton,  Bishop  Thomas,  7,  211,  325. 

Nichol,  Professor  John,  291. 

Nichols,  John,  8  n. 

Nicoll,  Dr.  John,  39,  279. 

Nivernois,  Duke  de,  151. 

Non-jurors,  21. 

Norfolk,  Eleventh  Duke  of,  20  n. 

North,  Lord,  Second  Earl  of  Guilford, 
Coalition  with  Fox,  214,  328  ;  Gib- 
bon in  his  ministry,  207  ;  —  seat 
for  Lymington,  212 ;  —  dedica- 
tion, 228  ;  —  visits  him,  234  n  ; 
prime-minister,  192,  208  n,  212-3, 
514,  324,  327. 

North,  Frederick,  Fifth  Earl  of  Guil- 
ford,  249. 

Notable,  15  n. 


356 


INDEX 


Ockley,  Simon,  45,  282. 

Ogle,  William,  M.  D. ,  29  n. 

Olbach  (d').  Baron,  153,  308. 

Old  age,  243,  343. 

Oldys,  William,  145. 

Olivet,  J.  T.,  91,  125. 

Orators,  193  n,  228. 

Ormond,  Duke  of,  58  n.\ 

Osborne,  Bernal,  313. 

Ossian,  197,  315. 

Ossory,  Lord,  255. 

Ovid,  5  n. 

Oxford,  Third  Earl  of,  273. 

Oxford,  University  of,  antiquity,  51  ; 
climate,  42  n  ;  commission  of  in- 
quiry, 53  n  ;  common  rooms,  287  ; 
declamations,  59,  288  ;  degrees, 
53  ;  discipline,  47,  66  n,  289 ; 
examinations,  59  ;  gentlemen- 
commoners,  48,  57,  289 ;  Head- 
ington  Hill,  61  ;  Jacobites,  58, 
285  ;  long  vacation,  62  ;  matric- 
ulations, 42  n  ;  monks,  57,  109  ; 
poor  students,  284  ;  professors, 
S3,  81  ;  reforms,  80  ;  religious 
teaching,  66  ;  riding  school,  81  ; 
tutors'  fees,  65  n  ;  White's  Bamp- 
ton  Lectures,  320. 

Padua,  166. 

Paganism,  130,  183  n. 

Pagi,  Father,  182. 

Palgrave,  Rev.  — ,  169  n. 

Palladio,  166. 

Palpi?ig,  257. 

Pandects,  214. 

Parian  marble,  64. 

Paris,  149-150,  152. 

Parliaments,  29  n. 

Parr,  Rev.  Samuel,  LL. D. ,  Cam- 
bridge, 57  n  ;  choice  of  colleges,  79 
n  ;  Gibbon  at  Oxford,  61  n,  73  n, 

81  n ; and  Warburton,    180 

n  ■  —  resentments,  205  n  ;  — 
epitaph,  270;  Home,  Bishop,  288  ; 
Hurd's  Essay,  178  n  ;  Prince  of 
Wales,  80  n  ;  White's  Bampton 
Lectures,  320. 

Parsons,  Robert,  70  n. 

Pascal,  97. 

Patriots,  213. 

Pattison,  Rev.  Mark,  Casaubon,  277; 
Gibbon'  s  learning,  46  n  ;  —  tutors, 
61  n  ;  Jesuit  learning,  126  n ; 
Lowth's  Prcelectiones,  55  n,  285  ; 
Scaliger,  141  n. 

Pavilliard,  Rev.  — ,  83,  94,  98,  109, 
iS4.  =93- 


Pavilliard,  Madame,  84  n,  117,  156. 

Payne,  Sir  Ralph,  264. 

Pearce,  Bishop,  327. 

Pelham,  Thomas,  251. 

Percy,  Bishop  Thomas,  311. 

Petavius,  45,  126  n,  283. 

Peter  the  Hermit,  273. 

Petersfield,  25,  276. 

Petrarch,  6. 

Petty,  Sir  William,  200  n. 

Phaedrus,  35,  277. 

Phelips  or  Phillips,  to,  \\  n. 

Phillimore,  Sir  Walter,  293. 

Philosophers,  198  n. 

Pindar,  108. 

Pinkerton,  John,  235  n. 

Piozzi,  Mrs.  (Mrs.  Thrale),  34  n,  36  n, 
149  n,  275. 

Pithou,  Peter,  35,  278. 

Pitt,  Colonel,  127. 

Pitt,  William,  Earl  of  Chatham, 
Militia  Act,  135 ;  Burke's  eulogium, 
151  n  ;  George  III.'s  attack,  203  n  ; 
Wilkes,  301  ;  Hume,  314. 

Pitt,  William  (the  younger),  American 
war,  315,  332  ;  Board  of  Trade, 
213  n,  322;  Cambridge,  57  n  ; 
Fox,  192  n,  331  ;  Gibbon's  ac- 
quaintance, 262  ;  influence,  208  n  ; 
Ireland,  333 ;  Necker's  daughter, 
107  n  ;  Nelson's  victories,  251  ?i  ; 
Prime  Minister,  329  ;  prosperity  of 
country,  227  n  ;  Reform  Bill,  277  ; 
Septennial  Act,  19  n  ;  sinecures, 
215  n  ;  War  Minister,  206  n. 

Pius  II.,  52  n. 

Plautus,  106  n. 

Pliny,  6,  121,  159. 

Plutarch,  78. 

Pocock,  Edward,  D. D. ,  33,  45,  61. 

Poggius,  182  n. 

Polier  (de),  Mile.,  269. 

Polignac  (de),  Cardinal,  79. 

Pomponius  Mela,  159. 

Pope,  Alexander,  building,  236  ; 
character,  1  n  ;  church  registers, 
9  ;  critics,  242  n  ;  Crousaz,  87  ; 
English  language,  310 ;  foreign 
travel,  166  n  ;  Hearne,  280  ; 
Homer,  38  ;  life  of  a  wit,  178  n  ; 
Molly    Lepell,    116    n ;    patriots, 

28    71. 

Poree,  Charles,  286. 

Porson,    Richard,    Gibbon's     Decline 

and  Fall,    231,    336  ; Misc. 

Works,    195   n  ;  —  style,    190  n  ; 

Hayley,  335  ;   Hurd's  Essay,  146 

n  ;  Letters  to  Travis,  210,  325. 


INDEX 


357 


Porter),  Catherine  (the  historian's 
aunt),  26  «,  30,    36-7,  39-41.  67. 

112,    24O   11,    279. 

Porten,  Charlotte,  236  n. 

Porten,  Jaines,  26  n,  37,  278. 

Porten,  Judith,  26. 

Porten,  Sir  Stanier,  26  n,  268. 

Porter,  Mrs.,  153  n. 

Portland,  Duke  of,  329. 

Posting,  252. 

Pouilly  (de),  111  n. 

Preachers,  300. 

Prescott,  W.  H.,  194  n. 

Preston,  — ,  254. 

Pretender,  The  Old,  13  n,  58  n. 

Pretender,  The  Young,  28. 

Price,  Baron,  321. 

Prideaux,  Dean    Humphrey,  45,  223, 

283. 
Priestley,  Joseph,  203,  319,  322. 
Primogeniture,  27. 
Prince,  Daniel,  34  n,  63  «. 
Prior,  Matthew,  16,  281,  322. 
Procopius,  178  n,  214,  281. 
Professional  life,  170. 
Puffendorf,  96. 
Pullein,  Robert,  52  n, 
Pullen,  Josiah,  61  n. 
Pulteney,  William,    Earl  of  Bath,  28 

n,  240  n. 
Putney,  20,  34,  185. 

Queen's  College,  Oxford,  65  n,   284, 

288,  289,  290. 
QueYard,  232  n,  337. 
Quintilian,  92,  192  n. 

Racine,  105  n,  242  n. 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  144. 

Ramsay,  Allan,  215  n. 

Ramusius,  229. 

Randolph,  Dr.,  318. 

Rapin  de  Thoyras,  44,  281,  295. 

Raynal,  Abbe\  152,  306. 

Read,  General  Meredith,  218  11,  265  n, 

332- 

Redding,  Cyrus,  339. 

Registers,  Church,  9. 

Rennell,  — ,  325. 

Resnel,  87  n. 

R6tif  de  la  Br^tonne,  226. 

Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  Duke  of  Cum- 
berland, 127  n  ;  genius,  143,  303  ; 
Gibbon's  portrait,  86  n,  331  ;  — 
friend,  130  n,  169  n,  228  n  ;  Gold- 
smith, 15  «  ;  Literary  Club,  311. 

Richard  I.,  144. 

Ridley,  Major,  169  ». 


Robertson,  William,  D.D.,  his  His- 
tories, 122,  134  ft,  232,  296,  297, 
315  ;    The  Decline,  195,  209  n. 

Rockingham,  Marquis  of,  213  n,  214. 

Rogers,  Samuel,  250  »,  332,  334. 

Roman  Club,  169. 

Roman  Empire,  happy  period,  239  ». 

Rome,  163,  167,  182  n,  183,  308. 

Rome,  Church  of,  73,  291. 

Romilly,  Sir  Samuel,  238  n,  306,  330. 

Rooke,  Sir  George,  11  n. 

Ross,  Bishop  John,  92. 

Round,  J.  H.,  5  n. 

Rousseau,  J.  J. ,  7  ;  fables,  35  ;  Mont- 
morency, 152;  Hume,  175  ?i  ; 
Gibbon,  293;  letters,  332. 

Routh,  M.  }.,  D.D.,  6t  n,  65  ?i,  81  v, 
283,  284,  289. 

Royal  Society,  22  n. 

Russell,  Earl,  335. 

Rustic,  37  n. 

Rutilius  Numatianus,  159. 

Rylands,  Mrs.  John,  254  n. 

Sacheverell,  Rev.  Henry,  D.  D. , 
274. 

Sade  (de),  307. 

Saint  Sulpice,  150. 

Sainte-Beuve,  Bossuet,  70  »  ;  Gibbon 
at  Oxford,  48  »;  —  conversion, 
72  n,  89 ;  —  French,  91  n  ;  — 
and  nature,  117  n  ;  —  and  the 
Acadhnie,  120  ?i  ;  —  indecency, 
231  n  ;  —  religion,  237  n,  248  n, 
309 ;  —  in  love,  293  ;  —  Essai, 
317 ;  —  learning,  336  ;  —  trans- 
lators, 338  ;  —  patriotism,  340  ; 
Huet,  7  n  ;    Hume,  297. 

Saints,  69,  71  n,  309. 

Sallier,  Abbe\  in  v. 

Sallo,  Denis  de,  134  //. 

Salmasius,  96  n. 

Salt,  Samuel,  209  n,  314. 

Sanderson,  Bishop  Robert,  288. 

Sargeaunt,  J.,  279. 

Sarpi,  Paolo  (Father  Paul),  6  «,  44, 
282,  296. 

Savage,  Dr.,  327. 

Savage,  Richard,  2  n. 

Savanarola,  147. 

Saxe,  Marshal,  269  n. 

Scaliger,  J.  J.,  45,  141,  283. 

Scapula,  302. 

Schavedt,  Margrave  of,  169. 

Schilling,  Diebold,  172. 

Scholl,  Dr.,  240  n,  339. 

Schomberg,  Count  de,  269. 

Schools  and  schoolmasters,  34,  39,  47. 


358 


INDEX 


Schott,  Andrew,  126  n. 

Scott,  George  Lewis,  141. 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  brothers  and  sisters, 
27  n  ;  school  life,  46  n  ;  quotes 
Prior,  281  ;    genius,  304. 

Scott,  Sir  William  (Lord  Stowell),  80, 
289,  292. 

Seagar,  Sir  William,  10. 

Selden,  John,  340. 

Septennial  Act,  19. 

Servetus,  203,  321. 

S6very  (de),  family,  236. 

S6very  (de),  Wilhelm,  234,  269. 

S6very  (de),  of  Mex,  86  n,  218  n,  269  n. 

Seward,  Rev.  Thomas,  326. 

Shaftesbury,  Fourth  Earl  of,  118  n. 

Shakespeare,  William,  105. 

Sheffield,  John  Baker  Holroyd,  first 
Earl  of,  Downing  Street  house, 
227  ;  Gibbon  abused,  340  ;  — 
his  adviser,  268  n  ;  —  business 
affairs,  241  ;  —  executor,  268  ;  — 
friend,  157,  189,  227 ;  —  grave, 
270  ;  —  illness  and  death,  258-67  ; 

—  letters,  251-7,  259-61,  263;  — 
library,  338  ;  —  and  the  Ministry, 
324  ;  —  memoirs  continued,  245  ; 

—  retirement,  216  n,  220  n ,  234  ; 

—  seat  for  Lymington,  216  n  ;  — 
visitor  at  Lausanne,  246 ,  marriages, 
248  n  ;  member  for  Coventry  and 
Bristol,  226-7,  333  '»  peerage,  189, 
226  ;  political  writings,  226,  332  ; 
Prince  of  Wales,  256  11. 

Sheffield,  First  Lady,  234,  239  n,  248, 

269,  342. 
Sheffield  Place,  189. 
Shelburne,   Earl   of,  First  Marquis  of 

Lansdowne,    209    n,    214-5,    3l8> 

328,  329,  331. 
Sheldon,  Archbishop,  75  n. 
Shelley,  Sir  John,  20  n. 
Sheridan,  Richard  Brinsley,  228,  311, 

334- 
Sheridan,  Thomas,  D.  D. ,  32  n. 
Shorthand  writers,  228. 
Siddons,  Mrs.,  153  n. 
Sidney,  Sir  Philip,  145. 
Sigebert,  King,  51  n. 
Sigonius,  182. 
Simeon  Stylites,  309. 
Sirmond,  Father,  125. 
Slave  trade,  333. 
Sloane,  Sir  Hans,  M.D. ,  30. 
Sloper,  — ,  18  n. 
Smelt,  Leonard,  200  n. 
Smith,  Adam,   Balliol   College,    54  n, 

62    n  ;    contempt,  46  n  ;    Decline 


22 


Wealth 
young 


and  Fall,  206  n  ;  enthusiasm, 
n  ;  fines,  56  n  ;  Greek,  94  n  ; 
Literary  Club,  311  ;  Mandeville, 
275  ;  Navigation  Act,  333  ;  praise, 
242  n  ;  Racine,  105  n  ;  Uni- 
versities, 51  n,  53  n,  54,  286  ; 
Versailles,  149  n,  150  n  ; 
of  Nations,  196  n,  312 
travellers,  167  n. 

Smith,  Dr.,  292. 

Smollett,  Tobias,  197  n,  243  n. 

South,  Robert,  D.D. ,  22  n. 

South  Sea  Company,  16. 

Southey,  Robert,  Hayley  the  poet,  230 
n  ;  Oxford,  50  n,  62  n,  290 ;  West- 
minster School,  279,  280. 

Spanheim,  Ezechiel,  160. 

Spedalieri,  Nicola,  210. 

Speed,  John,  44,  281. 

Spelman,  Edward,  44,  280. 

Spencer,  Second  Earl,  4,  251,  253-4, 
264. 

Spencer,  Countess  of,  251  ?/,  264. 

Spenser,  Edmund,  4. 

Sprat,  Bishop,  22  n. 

Stael,  Madame  de,  107  n,  332. 

Stanhope,  Second  Earl,  298. 

Stanhope,  Philip,  313. 

Stanislaus,  King,  no  w. 

Stawell,  Lord,  116  n. 

Steele,  Sir  Richard,  17  n. 

Steevens,  George,  311. 

Ste  Palaye  (de),  152,  307. 

Stephen,  Sir  James,  290. 

Sterling,  John,  275. 

Sterne,  Laurence,  80  n,  231  n. 

Stewart,  Dugald,  102  n,  190  n. 

Stewart,  Sir  Simeon,  119. 

St.  Germains,  First  Earl  of,  21  n. 

Stonor,  Monsignore,  210. 

Storer,  Anthony,  206  n. 

Stormont,  Lord  (second  Earl  of  Mans- 
field), 205. 

Strabo,  142,  159. 

Strahan,  William,  194,  229. 

Strauch,  /Egidius,  45,  283. 

Style,  1,  189. 

Suard,  J.  B.  A.,  134  n,  152. 

Subordination,  238  n. 

Sunderland,  Earl  of,  4  n. 

Superstition,  78,  197. 

Swift,  Jonathan,  October  Club,  25  n  ; 
death,  36  n  ;  style,  122  ;  Temple's 
Works,  132  n  ;  oaths  of  abjuration, 
274  ;  army,  298  ;  not  read,  336. 

Swiss,  History  of  the  Liberty  of  the, 
147,171.' 

Switzerland,  98,  341. 


INDEX 


359 


Sylva,  Madame  de,  252,  265. 
Symonds,  J.  A.,  165  n. 

Tacitus,  266. 

Tanucci,  276. 

Taylor,  Rev.  Henry,  203,  318. 

Taylor,  John  ("  Chevalier  "),  30. 

Temple,  Lord,  301. 

Temple,  Sir  William,  6,  132. 

Tennyson,  Alfred,  29  n,  242  n,  313. 

Terrick,  Bishop  Richard,  180  n. 

Thackeray,  W.  M. ,  5  n. 

Theatres,  22,  114. 

Theodora,  Empress,  178  11,  231. 

Theodoret,  309. 

Theodosian  Code,  182. 

Theology,  Books  of,  120  u. 

Thirty-nine  articles,  66,  75,  290. 

Thomson,  James,  243  n. 

Three  Heavenly  Witnesses,  210,  325. 

Thuanus  (De  Thou),  6,  278. 

Thurlow,  Lord  Chancellor,  192,  205, 

322. 
Tibullus,  163  n. 
Tillemont,  182,  183  ;/,  232. 
Tillotson,  Archbishop,  89  n. 
Tissot,  Dr.,  221. 
Titus,  Emperor,  144. 
Tories,  25,  135. 

Townshend,  First  Marquis,  329. 
Townshend,  Second  Viscount,  273. 
Transubstantiation,  71,  89. 
Travel,  Foreign,  148,  166. 
T:avis,  Archdeacon  George,  209,  210, 

325- 
Traytorrens  (de),  95. 
Trevelyan,  Sir  George,  329. 
Trinity  College,  Oxford,  289. 
Triumphs,  309. 
Tschudi,  Giles,  172. 
Turin,  161. 
Tuscany,  252  n. 
Tuscany,  Marquis  of,  242  n. 

Universal  History,  43. 
Universities,  51,  286. 
Unwell,  255  n. 
Usher,  Archbishop,  45,  283. 

VAUD,  98  n,  238,  341. 
Venice,  19,  166. 
Vergennes  (de),  337. 
Vernacular,  130. 
Versailles,  149. 
Vertot,  90,  147. 
Vicat,  — ,  95. 
Villaret,  306. 
Villemain,  191  n. 


Vincent,  Dr. ,  279. 

Viner,  Charles,  81,  292. 

Virgil,  Gibbon's  Dissertation,  106  n, 
130  ;  Critical  observations,  177, 
310 ;  quotations  from  Eclogues, 
113  n;  —  Georgics,  133;  — 
sEneid,  161,  211,  242  n. 

Voltaire,  Age  of  Lewis  XIV.,  63, 
103  n  ;  ancient  philosophers,  123 
n  ;  Anglotnanie,  305  ;  atheism, 
78  n  ;  Bayle,  77  n,  79  n  ;  Ber- 
noulli, 59  n  ;  Bolingbroke,  133 ; 
Congreve,  151  n  ;  Crousaz  &  Pope, 
88  n  ;  De  la  Bl^terie,  97  n  ;  De 
Guignes,  307  ;  English  dedication, 
133  ;  English  historians,  295-96  ; 
Ferney,  155  ;  Frederick  the  Great, 
103  ;  Giannone,  97  n  ;  Gibbon, 
102,  315  ;  Grotius,  96  n  ;  historio- 
graphe,  307  ;  Huet,  7  n  ;  Lausanne, 
103  ;  Leibnitz,  132  n  ;  Limborch, 
88  n  ;  letters,  332  ;  loan,  154  n  ; 
Mably,  317  ;  nobility  and  trade, 
273  ;  old  age,  244,  344  ;  old  super- 
stitions, 237  ;  Olivet,  91  n  ;  Paris, 
150  n  ;  Petau,  283  ;  style,  125  n  ; 
theatre,  104,  155 ;  universities, 
286  ;  Versailles,  149  n. 

Wainfleet,  Bishop,  55. 

Waldgrave,  Thomas,  D.D. ,  60,  75  n, 
288. 

Walpole,  Horace  (Fourth  Earl  of 
Orford),  acting,  153  n  ;  Anglo- 
manie,  305;  authors,  153  n,  308; 
Bath  Guide,  174  n  ;  Benedict 
XIV.,  164  n;  Biographia  Britan- 
nica,  6  n  ;  Bologna  School,  165  n  ; 
Bute,  Lord,  119  n  ;  character,  7  n  ; 
Chesterfield,  Lord,  308  ;  Cibber, 
7  n  ;  coronation,  137  n  ;  corre- 
spondence, 162  n  ;  Egremont, 
Lord,  250  n;  Ferdinand  IV.,  164 
n;  Geoffrin,  308;  Gibbon,  29;?,  151, 
201  n,  206  77,  211  n,  276,  297,  314, 
315,  321,  324,  327,  331,  335,  ; 
Hayley,  335  ;  Helvetius,  308  ; 
Historic  Doubts,  146  n,  176  ; 
Hume,  296,  297 ;  Hunter's  lec- 
tures, 200  n ;  influence,  208  n  ; 
Italy,  163  n  ;  Jacobites,  28  n  ; 
King's  speech,  29  n  ;  Macpherson, 
316  ;  Middleton,  91  n  ;  Mirabeau, 
330  ;  Mont  Cenis,  160  n  ;  Newton, 
Bishop,  327  ;  Northington,  Lord, 
27  n  ;  Paris,  148  n,  149  n,  152  n  ; 
Raynal,  306 ;  Turin,  161  n  ;  war 
with  France,  126  n  ;  Whiston,  7  n. 


360 


INDEX 


Walpole,  Sir  Robert  (First  Earl  of  Or- 
ford),  South  Sea  Bubble,  18  n, 
26  ;  opposition,  25,  28  ;  misquotes 
Horace,  240  n. 

Walpole,  — ,  255. 

War,  315. 

Warburton,  Bishop  William,  contro- 
versy with  Lowth,  50,  285  ;  Bur- 
gersdicius,  80  n  ;  Divine  Legation, 
177-81,  310. 

Ward,  Joshua,  30. 

Warton,  Joseph,  D.D. ,  231,  311. 

Warton,  Rev.  Thomas,  50  n,  287,  311. 

Warton  (a  painter),  209. 

Watson,  Bishop  Richard,  200  n,  202, 
209,  318. 

Watteville  (de),  106  n. 

Watts,  Isaac,  D.D. ,  43  n. 

Webster,  Lady  (Lady  Holland),  252. 

Weddal,  William,  169  n. 

Wedderburne,  Alexander  (Lord  Lough- 
borough and  Earl  of  Rosslyn), 
Solicitor-General,  193  ;  Chief  Jus- 
tice, 206  ;  Lord  Chancellor,  261  ; 
Gibbon's  friend,  215  n,  323  ;  North 
and  Fox,  328. 

Wells,  Dr.  Edward,  45,  283. 

Wenman,  Lord,  58  n. 

Wesley,  Rev.  John,  65  n. 

Wesseling,  Peter,  159. 

West,  Richard,  280. 

West,  Thomas,  D.D.,  288. 

Westbury,  First  Lord,  290,  293. 

Westminster  School,  38,  278. 

Weymouth,  Lord  (First  Marquis  of 
Bath),  205. 


68  n. 


Wheatley,  Henry  B. ,  82  n. 

Whetnalls,  10,  n  n. 

Whicher,  Rev.  J.,  277. 

Whiston,  William,  7,  63  n,  66  n, 
274,  321. 

Whitaker,  Rev.  John,  312,  320. 

White,  Joseph,  D.  D. ,  203-4,  320. 

Whiteway,  Mrs.,  36  «. 

Wilberforce,  William,  Gibbon,  324 ; 
Horsley,  322  ;  Pitt,  208  n  ;  Prac- 
tical Christianity,  194  n  ;  slave 
trade,   334. 

Wilkes,  John,  301,  311. 

William  III.,  11  n,  15,  286. 

Williams,  George,  291. 

Wilson,  Rev.  H.  A.,  288. 

Wilton,  150. 

Winchester,  Dr.  Thomas,  64,  79,  284. 

Windham,  Right  Hon.  William,  261, 
322. 

Wirtemberg,  Duke,  154. 

Wirtemberg,  Prince  Lewis  of,  154. 

Wolf,  F.  A.,  46  n,  61  n. 

Wood,  Anthony,  7. 

Wooddeson,  Dr.,  34. 

Worsley,  Sir  Richard,  176,  216  n. 

Worsley,  Sir  Thomas,  136,  168,  299, 
300. 

Xenophon,  92,  184, 

York,  Charles,  10  n. 
York,  Duke  of,  127,  326. 
Young,  Edward,  D.C.L.,  2  n. 

ZUINGLIUS,  99. 


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SPECIMEN    PAGE 

OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE  89 

and  embassies.  It  might  legally  be  questioned  how  far  a  Saxon 
was  entitled  to  the  privilege  of  the  French  nation  ;  but  every 
scruple  was  silenced  by  the  fame  and  piety  of  a  hero  who  had 
restored  the  empire  of  the  West.  After  the  death  of  her  father- 
in-law  and  husband,  Theophano  governed  Rome,  Italy,  and  Ger- 
many during  the  minority  of  her  son,  the  third  Otho ;  and  the 
Latins  have  praised  the  virtues  of  an  empress,  who  sacrificed  to 
a  superior  duty  the  remembrance  of  her  country.70  In  the  nup- 
tials of  her  sister  Anne,  every  prejudice  was  lost,  and  every  con- 
sideration of  dignity  was  superseded,  by  the  stronger  argument 
of  necessity  and  fear.  A  Pagan  of  the  North,  Wolodomir,  great  wolodomir 
prince  of  Russia,  aspired  to  a  daughter  of  the  Roman  purple ;  [viadimir  of 
and  his  claim  was  enforced  by  the  threats  of  war,  the  promise  of  988  [989] 
conversion,  and  the  offer  of  a  powerful  succour  against  a  domestic 
rebel.  A  victim  of  her  religion  and  country,  the  Grecian  princess 
was  torn  from  the  palace  of  her  fathers,  and  condemned  to  a 
savage  reign  and  an  hopeless  exile  on  the  banks  of  the  Borys- 
thenes,  or  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Polar  circle.71  Yet  the 
marriage  of  Anne  was  fortunate  and  fruitful ;  the  daughter  of 
her  grandson  Jeroslaus  was  recommended  by  her  Imperial  de-  prarosiav] 
scent ;  and  the  king  of  France,  Henry  I.,  sought  a  wife  on  the 
last  borders  of  Europe  and  Christendom.72 

In  the  Bvzantine  palace,  the  emperor  was  the  first  slave  of  Despotic 
the   ceremonies  which   he   imposed,  of  the  rigid   forms   which 
regulated  each  word  and  gesture,  besieged  him  in  the  palace, 
and  violated  the  leisure  of  his  rural  solitude.     But  the  lives  and 
fortunes  of  millions  hung  on  his  arbitrary  will  ;  and  the  firmest 

70  Licet  ilia  Imperatrix  Grasca  sibi  et  aliis  fuisset  satis  utilis,  et  optima,  &c. ,  is 
the  preamble  of  an  inimical  writer,  apud  Pagi,  torn.  iv.  a.d.  989,  No.  3.  Her 
marriage  and  principal  actions  may  be  found  in  Muratori,  Pagi,  and  St.  Marc, 
under  the  proper  years.  [For  the  question  as  to  the  identity  of  Theophano,  see 
above,  vol.  v.  p.  211,  note  49.  For  her  remarkably  capable  regency  (a  striking 
contrast  to  that  of  Agnes  of  Poictiers,  mother  of  the  Emperor  Henry  IV.)  see 
Giesebrecht,  Gesch.  der  deutschen  Kaiserzeit,  i.  p.  611  sqq.~\ 

7ICedrenus,  torn.  ii.  p.  699  [ii.  p.  444,  ed.  Bonn];  Zonaras,  torn.  ii.  p.  221 
[xvii.  7] ;  Elmacin,  Hist.  Saracenica,  1.  iii.  c.  6 ;  Nestor  apud  Levesque,  torn.  ii. 
p.  112  [Chron.  Nestor,  c.  42] ;  Pagi,  Critica,  a.d.  987,  No.  6  ;  a  singular  concourse  ! 
Wolodomir  and  Anne  are  ranked  among  the  saints  of  the  Russian  church.  Yet  we 
know  his  vices,  and  are  ignorant  of  her  virtues.  [For  the  date  of  Vladimir's 
marriage  and  conversion  see  below,  chap.  Iv.  p.  164,  note  100.] 

72Henricus  primus  duxit  uxorem  Scythicam  [et]  Russam,  filiam  regis  Jeroslai. 
An  embassy  of  bishops  was  sent  into  Russia,  and  the  father  gratanter  filiam  cum 
multis  donis  misit.  This  event  happened  in  the  year  1051.  See  the  passages  of  the 
original  chronicles  in  Bouquet's  Historians  of  France  (torn.  xi.  p.  29,  159,  161,  319, 
384,  481).  Voltaire  might  wonder  at  this  alliance;  but  he  should  not  have  owned 
his  ignorance  of  the  country,  religion,  tkc,  of  Jeroslaus — a  name  so  conspicuous  in 
the  Russian  annals. 


SPECIMEN    PAGE 

]  MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  3 

will  respect  the  prejudices  and  habits,  which  have  been  con- 
secrated by  the  experience  of  mankind.1  Few  there  are  who 
can  sincerely  despise  in  others  an  advantage  of  which  they 
are  secretly  ambitious  to  partake.  The  knowledge  of  our  own 
family  from  a  remote  period  will  be  always  esteemed  as  an 
abstract  pre-eminence,  since  it  can  never  be  promiscuously 
enjoyed  ;  but  the  longest  series  of  peasants  and  mechanics 
would  not  afford  much  gratification  to  the  pride  of  their 
descendant.  We  wish  to  discover  our  ancestors,  but  we  wish 
to  discover  them  possessed  of  ample  fortunes,  adorned  with 
honourable  titles,  and  holding  an  eminent  rank  in  the  class  of 
hereditary  nobles,  which  has  been  maintained  for  the  wisest 
and  most  beneficial  purposes  in  almost  every  climate  of  the 
globe,  and  in  almost  every  modification  of  political  society.2 

Wherever  the  distinction  of  birth  is  allowed  to  form  a 
superior  order  in  the  state,  education  and  example  should 
always,  and  will  often,  produce  among  them  a  dignity  of 
sentiment  and  propriety  of  conduct,  which  is  guarded  from 
dishonour  by  their  own  and  the  public  esteem.  If  we  read 
of  some  illustrious  line  so  ancient  that  it  has  no  beginning, 
so  worthy  that  it  ought  to  have  no  end,  we  sympathize  in  its 
various  fortunes  ;  nor  can  we  blame  the  generous  enthusiasm, 
or  even  the  harmless  vanity,  of  those  who  are  allied  to  the 
honours  of  its  name.  For  my  own  part,  could  I  draw  my 
pedigree  from  a  general,  a  statesman,  or  a  celebrated  author, 
I  should  study  their  lives  with  the  diligence  of  filial  love.  In 
the  investigation  of  past  events,  our  curiosity  is  stimulated  by 

1  [The  rest  of  the  paragraph  to  "  political  society  "  first  appears  in  the  second 
edition.  In  its  arrangement  it  differs  in  some  places  from*  the  original,  which 
in  Auto.,  p.  417,  is  marked  as  hitherto  unpublished.] 

2  ["But,  sir  (said  Johnson),  as  subordination  is  very  necessary  for  society, 
and  contentions  for  superiority  very  dangerous,  mankind,  that  is  to  say,  all 
civilised  nations,  have  settled  it  upon  a  plain,  invariable  principle.  A  man  is 
born  to  hereditary  rank  ;  or  his  being  appointed  to  certain  offices  gives  him  a 
certain  rank.  Subordination  tends  greatly  to  human  happiness.  Were  we 
all  upon  an  equality  we  should  have  no  other  enjoyment  than  mere  animal 
pleasure"  (Boswell's  Johnson,  i. ,  442). 

Satan  maintained  in  Hell  that 

' '  Orders  and  degrees 
Jar  not  with  liberty,  but  well  consist  ". 

(Paradise  Lost,  y. ,  792. )] 


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Travel,  Adventure  and  Topography 

THE  INDIAN  BORDERLAND  :  Being  a  Personal  Record 
of  Twenty  Years.  By  Sir  T.  H.  Holdich,  K.C.I.E.  Illustrated. 
Demy  Svo.  1 5.?.  net. 
This  book  is  a  personal  record  of  the  author's  connection  with  those  military  and 
political  expeditions  which,  during  the  last  twenty  years,  have  led  to  the  con- 
solidation of  our  present  position  in  the  North-West  frontier  of  India.  It  is 
a  personal  history  of  trans-frontier  surveys  and  boundary  demarcations,  com- 
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MODERN  ABYSSYNIA.    By  A.  B.  Wylde.    With  a  Map  and 
a  Portrait.     Demy  Svo.     155.  net. 

An  important  and  comprehensive  account  of  Abyssinia  by  a  traveller  who  knows 
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Menelik. 

Revised  by  Commanding  Officers. 
THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  BOER  WAR.    By  F.  H.  E.  Cun- 
liffe,  Fellow  of  All  Souls'  College,  Oxford.    With  many  Illustrations, 
Plans,  and   Portraits.     Vol.  I.     Quarto.   \^s.     Also  in  Fortnightly 
Parts,      is.  each. 

Tr  e  first  volume  of  this  important  work  is  nearly  ready.  When  complete,  this  book 
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years  the  standard  History  of  the  War.  Messrs.  Methuen  have  been  fortunate 
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Tile  History  is  finely  illustrated. 

A  PRISONER  OF  WAR.    By  Colonel  A.  Schiel.    Crow?i 

Svo.     6s. 
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THE  SIEGE  OF  MAFEKING.    By  Angus  Hamilton.    With 

many  Illustrations.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 
This  is  a  vivid,  accurate,  and  humorous  narrative  of  the  great  siege  by  the  well- 
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Messrs.  Methuen's  Announcements         3 
CHINA.    By  J.  W.  Robertson-Scott.    With  a  Map.    Crown 

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exciting  and  most  dramatic  episodes  of  the  war.  He  was  with  the  force  which 
attempted  to  relieve  Cronje  at  Paardeberg,  was  present  during  a  considerable 
part  of  the  siege  of  Ladysmith,  at  the  battle  of  Colenso,  at  the  surprise  of  Sanna's 
Post.  His  book,  written  with  dramatic  vigour,  is  a  spirited  description  of  the 
Boer  methods,  of  their  military  strength,  and  contains  vivid  character  sketches  of 
most  of  the  Boer  leaders  with  whom  Mr.  Hillegas  was  on  terms  of  fairly  intimate 
friendship.  This  book,  though  written  by  one  who  sympathises  with  the  Boers, 
is  permeated  by  a  spirit  of  chivalry,  and  it  contains  little  that  can  offend  the  most 
sensitive  of  Englishmen.  It  throws  a  flood  of  light  on  many  of  the  episodes 
which  have  been  mysterious,  and  explains  the  secrets  of  the  many  successes  which 
the  Boers  have  won. 

History  and  Biography 

THE  LETTERS  OF  ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON  TO 
HIS  FAMILY  AND  FRIENDS.  Edited  with  an  Introduction  and 
Notes  by  Sidney  Colvin.  Fourth  Edition.  Two  volumes.  Crown 
Svo.  I  is. 
This  is  a  completely  new  edition  of  the  famous  Letters  of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson, 
published  in  1899. 

THE  LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  SIR  JOHN  EVERETT 
MILLAIS,  President  of  the  Royal  Academy.  By  his  son  J.  G. 
Millais.  With  over  300  Illustrations,  of  which  9  are  in  Photo- 
gravure. Cheaper  Edition,  Revised.  Two  volumes.  Royal  Svo, 
20s.  net. 

THE  WALKERS  OF  SOUTHGATE  :  Being  the  Chronicles  of 
a  Cricketing  Family.  By  W.  A.  Bettesworth.  Illustrated.  Demy 
Svo.     1 5  s. 

A  HISTORY  OF  EGYPT,  from  the  Earliest  Times  to 
the  Present  Day.    Edited  by  W.  M.  Flinders  Petrie,  D.C.L., 
LL.D.,  Professor  of  Egyptology  at  University  College.     Fully  Illus- 
trated.    In  Six  Volumes.     Crown  Svo.     6s.  each. 
Vol.  VI.  Egypt  under  the  Saracens.     By  Stanley  Lane- 
Poole. 

Illustrated  and   Gift   Books 

THE  LIVELY  CITY  OF  LIGG.  By  Gelett  Burgess.  With 
53  Illustrations,  8  of  which  are  coloured.     Small  4I0.     6s. 


4         Messrs.  Methuen's  Announcements 
GOOP    BABIES.      By  Gelett   Burgess.      With  numerous 

Illustrations.     Small  4I0.     6s. 
THE   EARLY  POEMS  OF  ALFRED  LORD  TENNYSON. 

Edited,  with  Notes  and  an  Introduction  by  J.  Churton  Collins, 
M.  A.     With  10  Illustrations  in  Photogravure  by  W.  E.  F.  Britten. 
Detny  Svo.     ios.  6d. 
This  beautiful  edition  contains  ten  charming  sketches  by  Mr.  Britten,  reproduced  in 
the  highest  style  of  Photogravure. 

NURSERY    RHYMES.       With    many    Coloured    Pictures   by 
F.  D.  Bedford.     Super  Royal  Svo.     2s.  6d. 
'An  excellent  selection  of  the  best  known  rhymes,  with  beautifully  coloured  pictures 
exquisitely  printed.' — Pall  Mall  Gazette. 


Theology 


THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  RELIGION  IN  ENGLAND.  By 
Alfred  Caldecott,  D.D.     Demy  Svo.     ios.  6d. 

[Handbooks  of  Theology. 
A  complete  history  and  description  of  the  various  philosophies  of  religion  which  have 
been  formulated  during  the  last  few  centuries  in  England  and  America. 

ST.  PAUL'S  SECOND  AND  THIRD  EPISTLES  TO  THE 
CORINTHIANS.  With  Introduction,  Dissertations,  and  Notes  by 
James  Houghton  Kennedy,  D.D.,  Assistant  Lecturer  in  Divinity 
in  the  University  of  Dublin.      Croiun  Svo.     6s. 

THE  SOUL  OF  A  CHRISTIAN.  By  F.  S.  Granger,  M.A., 
Litt.D.  Crown  Svo.  6s. 
Professor  Granger  abandons  the  conventional  method  of  psychology  by  which  the 
individual  is  taken  alone,  and  instead, he  regards  him  as  sharing  in  and  contribut- 
ing to  the  catholic  tradition.  Hence  the  book  deals  not  only  with  the  average 
religious  life,  but  also  with  the  less  familiar  experiences  of  the  mystic,  the  vision- 
ary, and  the  symbolist.  These  experiences  furnish  a  clue  to  poetic  creation  in  its 
various  kinds,  and  further,  to  the  miracles  which  occur  during  times  of  religious 
enthusiasm. 

©£for&   Commentaries. 

THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.  Edited,  with  an  Intro- 
duction and  Notes,  by  R.  B.  Rackham,  M.A.     Demy  Svo. 

XLhc  Xibrarg  of  Devotion 

Pott  Svo.     Cloth  25. ;    leather  2s.  6d.  net. 
NEW  VOLUMES. 

A  GUIDE  TO  ETERNITY.  By  Cardinal  Bona.  Edited 
with  an  Introduction  and  Notes  by  J.  W.  Stanbridge,  B.D.,  late 
Fellow  of  St.  John's  College,  Oxford. 

THE  PSALMS  OF  DAVID.     With  an  Introduction  and  Notes 
by  B.  W.  Randolph,  D.D.,  Principal  of  the  Theological  College, 
Ely. 
A  devotional  and  practical  edition  of  the  Prayer  Book  version  of  the  Psalms. 

LYRA  APOSTOLICA.  With  an  Introduction  by  Canon  SCOTT 
Holland,  and  Notes  by  H.  C.  Beeching,  M.A. 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Announcements         5 
Belles   Lettres 

Gbe  Xittle  (Buifcea 

Pott  Svo.     Cloth,  35.  ;  leather,  35.  6d.  net. 
NEW  VOLUMES. 

WESTMINSTER  ABBEY.  By  G.  E.  Troutbeck.  Illustrated 
by  F.  D.  Bedford. 

SUSSEX.     By  F.  G.  Brabant,  M.A.     Illustrated  by  E.  H.  New. 

Xittle  JSiograpbics 

Fcap.  Svo.     Each  Volume,  cloth  2s.  6/1.;  leather,  5s.  6d.  net. 

Messrs.  Methuen  will  publish  shortly  the  first  two  volumes  of  a  new 
series  bearing  the  above  title.  Each  book  will  contain  the  biography  of  a 
character  famous  in  war,  art,  literature  or  science,  and  will  be  written  by 
an  acknowledged  expert.  The  books  will  be  charmingly  produced  and 
will  be  well  illustrated.     They  will  make  delightful  gift  books. 

THE  LIFE  OF  SAVONAROLA.  By  E.  L.  Horsburgh,  M.A., 
With  Portraits  and  Illustrations. 

THE  LIFE  OF  DANTE  ALIGHIERI.  By  Paget  Toynbee. 
With  10  Illustrations. 

£be  Timorks  of  Sbafcespearc 

New  volumes  uniform  with  Professor  Dowden's  Hamlet. 

ROMEO  AND  JULIET.  Edited  by  Edward  Dowden,  Litt.D. 
Demy  Svo.     3s.  6d. 

KING  LEAR.     Edited  by  W.  J.  Craig.     Demy  Svo.     3s.  td. 

/Iftetbuen'0  StanoarD  Xtbratg 

MEMOIRS  OF  MY  LIFE  AND  WRITINGS.  By  Edward 
Gibbon.  Edited,  with  an  Introduction  and  Notes  by  G.  Birkbeck 
Hill,  LL.D.      Crown  Svo.     6s. 

THE  LETTERS  OF  LORD  CHESTERFIELD  TO  HIS 
SON.  Edited,  with  an  Introduction  and  Notes  by  C.  Strachey  and 
A.  CALTHROr.      Two  volumes.     Crown  Svo.     6s.  each. 


6         Messrs.  Methuen's  Announcements 
Gbe  IRovels  of  Cbarles  SMckens 

With  Introductions  by  George  Gissing,  Notes  by  F.  G.  KlTTON, 

and  Illustrations. 

Crown  8vo.     Each  Volume,  cloth  3*.  net,  leather  45.  6d.  net. 
The  first  volumes  are  : 

THE   PICKWICK   TAPERS.      With   Illustrations   by   E.    H.    New. 
Two  Volumes.  [Ready 

NICHOLAS  NICKLEBY.      With  Illustrations  by   R.  J.  Williams. 
Two  Volumes.  [Ready. 

BLEAK  HOUSE.      With   Illustrations  by  Beatrice  Alcock.      Two 
Volumes. 

OLIVER  TWIST.     With  Illustrations  by  E.   H.  New.     One  Volume. 

Gbe  Xtttle  Xtbrarg 

With  Introductions,  Notes,  and  Photogravure  Frontispieces. 
Pott  $vo.     Each  Volume,  cloth  is*  6d.  net.  ;  leather  zs.  6d.  net. 

NEW  VOLUMES. 

THE  EARLY  POEMS  OF  ALFRED,  LORD  TENNYSON. 
Edited  by  J.  C.  Collins,  M.A. 

MAUD.     By  ALFRED,  LORD  Tennyson.    Edited  by  ELIZABETH 
Wordsworth. 

A  LITTLE  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  LYRICS.     With  Notes. 

PRIDE  AND  PREJUDICE.     By  Jane  Austen.     Edited  by 
E.  V.  Lucas.      Two  Volumes. 

PENDENNIS.    By  W.  M.  Thackeray.    Edited  by  S.  Gwynn. 
Three  volumes. 

EOTHEN.     By  A.  W.  Kinglake.      With   an    Introduction  and 
Notes. 

LAVENGRO.     By  George  Borrow.     Edited  by  F.  Hindes 
Groome.     2  Volumes. 

CRANFORD.      By  Mrs.   Gaskell.     Edited  by  E.  V.  Lucas. 

THE  INFERNO  OF  DANTE.      Translated  by  H.  F.   Cary. 

Edited  by  Paget  Toynbee. 

JOHN  HALIFAX,  GENTLEMAN.     By  Mrs.  Craik.     Edited 
by  Annie  Matheson.     Two  volumes. 

A  LITTLE  BOOK  OF  SCOTTISH  VERSE.     Arranged  and 
Edited  by  T.  F.  Henderson. 

A  LITTLE  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH   PROSE.     Arranged  and 
Edited  by  Mrs.  P.  A.  Barnett. 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Announcements         7 


Poetry 


WRIT' IN  BARRACKS.   By  Edgar  Wallace.   Cr.Zvo.  ^s.6d. 

Mr.  Edgar  Wallace,  a  member  of  the  Royal  Army  Medical  Corps,  is  a  follower  of 
Mr.  Kipling,  and  his  ballads  of  soldier  life  and  sufferings  are  well-known  in  South 
Africa.  They  are  spirited,  pathetic,  and  true,  and  at  the  present  time  they  should 
enjoy  a  considerable  popularity. 

THE  RUBAIYAT  OF  OMAR  KHAYYAM.  Translated  by 
Edward  FitzGerald,  with  a  Commentary  by  II.  M.  Batson,  and 
a  Biography  of  Omar  by  E.  D.  Ross,  M.A.     6s. 

This  edition  of  the  famous  book,  the  text  of  which  is  printed  by  permission  of  Messrs. 
Macmillan,  is  the  most  complete  in  existence.  It  contains  FitzGerald's  last  text, 
and  a  very  full  commentary  on  each  stanza.  Professor  Ross,  who  is  an  admirable 
Persian  scholar,  contributes  a  biography,  containing  many  new,  valuable,  and 
interesting  facts. 


Scientific  and  Educational 

THE  CAPTIVI  OF  PLAUTUS.    Edited,  with  an  Introduction, 
Textual  Notes,  and  a  Commentary,  by  W.  M.  Lindsay,  Fellow  of 
Jesus  College,  Oxford.     Demy  8vo.     ios.  6d.  net. 
For  this  edition  all  the  important  mss.  have  been  re-collated.      An  appendix  deals 
with  the  accentual  element  in  early  Latin  verse.     The  Commentary  is  very  full. 

THE  CONSTRUCTION  OF  LARGE  INDUCTION  COILS. 
By  A.  T.  Hare,  M.A.     With  numerous  Diagrams.     Demy&vo.    6s. 

LACE-MAKING  IN  THE  MIDLANDS,  PAST  AND 
PRESENT.  By  C.  C.  Channer  and  M.  E.  Roberts.  With  16 
full-page  Illustrations.     Crown  8vo.     2s.  6d. 

AGRICULTURAL  ZOOLOGY.  By  Dr.  J.  Ritzema  Bos. 
Translated  by  J.  R.  Ainsworth  Davis,  M.A.  With  an  Introduc- 
tion by  Eleanor  A.  Ormerod,  F.E.S.  With  155  Illustrations. 
Crown  &vo.     3s.  6d. 

A  SOUTH  AFRICAN   ARITHMETIC.     By   Henry   Hill, 
B.A.,  Assistant  Master  at  Worcester  School,  Cape  Colony.     Crown 
8vo.     3s.  6d. 
This  book  has  been  specially  written  for  use  in  South  African  schools. 

A  GERMAN  COMMERCIAL  READER.  By  S.  Bally,  M.A. 
Crown  %vo,     2s.  [Met/wen's  Commercial  Serte: . 


8         Messrs.  Methuen's  Announcements 


Fiction 

THE  MASTER  CHRISTIAN.     By  Marie  Corelli.     Crown 

Svo.     6s. 

QUISANTE.     By  Anthony  Hope.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 

A  MASTER  OF  CRAFT.  By  W.  W.  JACOBS,  Author  of 
'  Many  Cargoes.'     Illustrated.      Crown  Svo.     6s. 

THE  GATELESS  BARRIER.  By  Lucas  Malet,  Author 
'  The  Wages  of  Sin.'     Crown  Svo.     6s. 

CUNNING  MURRELL.  By  Arthur  Morrison,  Author  of 
'  A  Child  of  the  Jago,'  etc.      Crown  Svo.     6s. 

FOR  BRITAIN'S  SOLDIERS  :  Stories  for  the  War  Fund.  By 
Rudyard  Kipling  and  Others.  Edited  by  C.  J.  Cutcliffe 
Hyne.      Crown  Svo.     6s. 

A  volume  of  stones,  the  proceeds  of  which  will  be  given  to  the  War  Fund. 
Among  the  contributors  are  : — Rudyard  Kipling,  Sir  W.  Besant,  S.  R.  Crockett, 
A.  E.  W.  Mason,  Max  Pemberton,  H.  G.  Wells,  C.  J.  C.  Hyne,  Mrs.  Croker. 

THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  A  THRONE.    By  Max  Pemberton. 

Illustrated.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 

SONS  OF  THE  MORNING.  By  Eden  Phillpotts,  Author 
of  '  The  Children  of  the  Mist. '     Crown  Svo.     6s. 

THE  SOFT  SIDE.  By  Henry  James,  Author  of '  What  Maisie 
Knew.'     Crown  Svo.     6s. 

TONGUES  OF  CONSCIENCE.  By  R.  S.  Hichens,  Author 
of  '  Flames.'     Crown  Svo.     6s. 

THE  CONQUEST  OF  LONDON.    By  Dorothea  Gerard, 

Author  of  '  Lady  Baby. '     Crown  Svo.     6s. 

WOUNDS  IN  THE  RAIN  :  WarStories.  By  Stephen  Crane, 
Author  of  '  The  Red  Badge  of  Courage. '     Croiun  Svo.     6s. 

WINEFRED.  By  S.  Baring  Gould,  Author  of  'Mehalah.' 
With  8  Illustrations.      Crown  Svo.     6s. 

THE  STRONG  ARM.  By  Robert  Barr,  Author  of  'The 
Countess  Tekla.'     Illustrated.      Crown  Svo.     6s. 

THE  SEEN  AND  THE  UNSEEN.  By  RICHARD  MARSH. 
Author  of  '  The  Beetle.'     Crown  Svo.     6s. 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Announcements         9 
SERVANTS  OF  SIN.    By  J.  Bloundelle  Burton,  Author 

'The  Clash  of  Arms.'     Crown  8vo.     6s. 

PATH  AND  GOAL.     By  Ada  Cambridge.     Crown  Zvo.    6s. 
ELMSLIE'S  DRAG  NET.     By  E.  H.  Strain.    Crown  %vo.   6s. 
A  FOREST  OFFICER.     By  Mrs.  Penny.     CrownZvo.     ?,s.6d. 

A  story  of  jungle  life  in  India. 

FITZJAMES.    By  Lilian  Street.    CroivnZvo.    $s.6d. 

ZTbe  IKtovelist 

A  monthly  series  of  novels  by  popular  authors  at  Sixpence.  Each 
Number  is  as  long  as  the  average  Six  Shilling  Novel.  Numbers  I.  to 
XII.  are  now  ready  : — 

XIII.  THE  POMP  OF  THE  LAVILETTES.    Gilbert  Parker. 

XIV.  A  MAN  OF  MARK.  Anthony  Hope. 

XV.  THE  CARISSIMA.  Lucas  Malet. 

[September. 
XVI.  THE  LADY'S  WALK.  Mrs.  Oliphant. 

[  October. 
XVII.  DERRICK  VAUGHAN.  Edna  Lyall. 

[November. 

/iDetbuen's  Sijpenn^  Xibrarp 

A  New  Series  of  Copyright  Books. 
I.  THE  MATABELE  CAMPAIGN.    Maj. -General  Baden  Powell. 
II.  THE  DOWNFALL  OF  PREMPEH.  Do. 

III.  MY  DANISH  SWEETHEART.       W.  Clark  Russell. 

IV.  IN  THE  ROAR  OF  THE  SEA.     S.  Baring  Gould. 
V.  PEGGY  OF  THE  BARTONS.         B.  M.  Croker. 

VI.  IN  THE  MIDST  OF  ALARMS.     Robert  Barr. 

[September. 

VII.  BADEN  POWELL  OF  MAFEKING  :  a  Biography. 

J.  S.  Fletcher.  [October. 

A  2 


A  CATALOGUE  OF 

Messrs.    Methuen's 

PUBLICATIONS 


Poetry 


Rudyard Kipling.  BARRACK-ROOM 
BALLADS.  By  Rudyard  Kipling. 
68th  Thousand.  Crown  8vo.  6s. 
Leather,  6s.  Tiet. 

'  Mr.  Kipling's  verse  is  strong,  vivid,  full 
of  character.  .  .  .  Unmistakeable  genius 
rings  in  every  line.' — Times. 

'  The  ballads  teem  with  imagination,  they 
palpitate  with  emotion.  We  read  them 
with  laughter  and  tears  ;  the  metres  throb 
in  our  pulses,  the  cunningly  ordered 
words  tingle  with  life  ;  and  if  this  be  not 
poetry,  what  is  ? ' — Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

Rudyard  Kipling.  THE  SEVEN 
SEAS.  By  Rudyard  Kipling. 
~,yth  Thousand.  Cr.  8vo.  Buckram, 
gilt  top.     6s.     Leather,  6s.  net. 

'The  Empire  has  found  a  singer  ;  it  is  no 
depreciation  of  the  songs  to  say  that 
statesmen  may  have,  one  way  or  other, 
to  take  account  of  them.' — Manchester 
Guardian. 

'  Animated  through  and  through  with  in- 
dubitable genius.' — Daily  Telegraph. 


"Q."  GREEN  BAYS:  Verses  and 
Parodies.  By"Q."  Second  Edition. 
Crown  8vo.     35.  6d. 

E.  Mackay.  A  SONG  OF  THE  SEA. 
By  Eric  Mackay.  Second  Edition. 
Fcap.  8vo.     5.?. 


H.   Ibsen.      BRAND. 
Henrik     Ibsen. 
William  Wilson. 
Crown  8vo.     3-f.  6d. 


A  Drama  by 
Translated  by 
Third  Edition. 


"Q."    POEMS  AND  BALLADS. 
"Q."     Crown  8vo.     35.  6d. 


By 


A.  D.  Godley.    LYRA  FRIVOLA.    By 

A.    D.   Godley,   M.A.,    Fellow    of 

Magdalen  College,    Oxford.      Third 

Edition.     Pott  8vo.    2s.  6d. 

'  Combines  a   pretty  wit  with   remarkably 

neat  versification.  .  .  .  Every  one  will 

wish  there  was  more  of  it.' — Times. 

A.  D.  Godley.  VERSES  TO  ORDER. 
By  A.  D.  Godley.  Crown  Svo. 
2s.  6d.  net. 

'  A    capital    specimen    of    light    academic 
poetry.' — St.  James  s  Gazette. 

J.  G.  Cordery.  THE  ODYSSEY  OF 
HOMER.  A  Translation  by  J.  G. 
Cordery.     Crown  8vo.    7s.  6d. 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


ii 


Belles  Lettres,  Anthologies,  etc. 


R.  L.  Stevenson.  VAILIMA  LET- 
TERS. By  Robert  Louis  Steven- 
son. With  an  Etched  Portrait  by 
William  Strang.  Second  Edition. 
Crown  8vo.     Buckram.     6s. 

'A  fascinating  book.'—  Standard. 

'  Unique  in  Literature.' — Daily  Chronicle. 

G.  Wyndham.  THE  POEMS  OF  WIL- 
LIAM   SHAKESPEARE.       Edited 
with  an  Introduction  and  Notes  by 
George  Wyndham,   M.P.      Demy 
8vo.     Buckram,  gilt  top.     ios.  6d. 
This  edition  contains  the  '  Venus,' '  Lucrece, 
and   Sonnets,  and   is  prefaced   with  an 
elaborate  introduction  of  over  140  pp. 
'We  have  no  hesitation  in  describing  Mr. 
George   Wyndham's    introduction   as  a 
masterly  piece  of  criticism,  and  all  who 
love  our  Elizabethan  literature  will  find  a 
very  garden  of  delight  in  it.' — Spectator. 

W.  E.  Henley.     ENGLISH  LYRICS. 

Selected    and     Edited    by    W.     E. 

Henley.      Crown    8vo.      Gilt   top. 

3-r.  6d. 

'  It  is  a  body  of  choice  and  lovely  poetry.' — 

Birmingham  Gazette. 

Henley  and  Whibley.  A  BOOK  OF 
ENGLISH  PROSE.  Collected  by 
W.  E.  Henley  and  Charles 
Whibley.  Crown  8vo.  Buckram, 
gilt  top.     6s. 

H.  C.  Beeching.     LYRA  SACRA  :  An 

Anthology  of  Sacred  Verse.      Edited 

by  H.  C.  Beeching,  M.A.     Crown 

8vo.     Buckram.     6s. 

*A  charming  selection,  which  maintains  a 

lofty  standard  of  excellence.' — Times. 

"Q."  THE  GOLDEN  POMP.  A  Pro- 
cession of  English  Lyrics.  Arranged 
by  A.  T.  Quiller  Couch.  Crown 
8vo.     Buckram.     6s. 

W.  B.  Yeats.     AN  ANTHOLOGY  OF 
IRISH  VERSE.     Edited  by  W.  B. 
Yeats.       Revised     and     Enlarged 
Edition.     Crown  8vo.     3s.  6d. 
'An  attractive  and    catholic    selection.' — 
Times. 
G.  W.  Steevens.    MONOLOGUES  OF 
THE  DEAD.    By  G.  W.  STEEVENS. 
Foolscap  8vo.  3s.  6d. 


W.  M.  Dixon.  A  PRIMER  OF 
TENNYSON.      By  W.  M.  Dixon, 

M.A.     Cr.  8vo.     is.  6d. 
'  Much  sound  and  well-expressed  criticism. 
The  bibliography  is  a  boon.' — Speaker. 

W.    A.    Craigie.      A     PRIMER     OF 
BURNS.       By     W.     A.    Craigie. 
Crown  8vo.     2s.  6d. 
'A  valuable  addition  to  the  literature  of  the 
poet.' — Times. 

L.  Magnus.   A  PRIMER  OF  WORDS- 
WORTH.     By  Laurie   Magnus. 
Crown  8vo.    is.  6d. 
'A  valuable  contribution  to  Wordsworthian 
literature.' — Literature. 

Sterne.  THE  LIFE  AND  OPINIONS 
OF  TRISTRAM  SHANDY.  By 
Lawrence  Sterne.  With  an  In- 
troduction by  Charles  Whibley, 
and  a  Portrait.     2  vols.     ys. 

Congreve.  THE  COMEDIES  OF 
WILLIAM  CONGREVE.  With  an 
Introduction  by  G.  S.  Street,  and 
a  Portrait.     2  vols.     7s. 

Morier.  THE  ADVENTURES  OF 
HAJJI  BABA  OF  ISPAHAN.  By 
James  Morier.  With  an  Introduc- 
tion by  E.  G.  Browne,  M.A.  and  a 
Portrait.     2  vols.     js. 

Walton.  THE  LIVES  OF  DONNE, 
WOTTON,  HOOKER,  HERBERT 
and  SANDERSON.  By  Izaak 
Walton.  With  an  Introduction  by 
Vernon  Blackburn,  and  a  Por- 
trait.    3s.  6d. 

Johnson  THE  LIVES  OF  THE 
ENGLISH  POETS.  By  Samuel 
Johnson,  LL.D.  With  an  Intro- 
duction by  J.  H.  Millar,  and  a  Por- 
trait.    3  vols.  ioj.  6d. 

Burns.  THE  POEMS  OF  ROBERT 
BURNS.  Edited  by  Andrew  Lang 
and  W.  A.  Craigie.  With  Portrait. 
Second  Edition.  Demy  8vo,  gilt  top. 
6s. 

'Among  editions  in  one  volume,  this  will 
take  the  place  of  authority.' — Times. 


12 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


F.  Langbridge.  BALLADS  OF  THE 
BRAVE ;  Poems  of  Chivalry,  Enter- 
prise, Courage,  and  Constancy. 
Edited  by    Rev.    F.    Langbridge. 


Second  Edition. 
School  Edition. 
'The  book  is  full 
World. 


Cr.  8vo.      35.  6d. 
2S.  6d. 
of  splendid  things. ' — 


Dante.  LA  COMMEDIA  DI 
DANTE  ALIGHIERI.  The  Italian 
Text  edited  by  Paget  Toynbee, 
M.A.      Crown  8vo.     6s. 

'  A    carefully-revised     text,    printed     with 
beautiful  clearness.' — Glasgow  Herald. 

Gibbon.      THE      DECLINE     AND 
FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 
By  Edward  Gibbon.     A  New  Edi- 
tion, Edited  with  Notes,  Appendices, 
and  Maps,  by  J.  B.  Bury,  LL.D. , 
Fellow  of  Trinity  College,    Dublin. 
In  Seven  Volumes.    Demy  8vo.     Gilt 
top.    8s.  6d.  each.    Also  Cr.  8vo.     6s. 
each. 
'The  time  has  certainly  arrived  for  anew 
edition  of  Gibbon's  great  work.  .  .  .  Pro- 
fessor Bury  is  the  right  man  to  under- 
take this  task.     His  learning  is  amazing, 
both  in  extent  and  accuracy.     The  book 
is  issued  in  a  handy  form,   and  at  a 
moderate    price,    and    it   is    admirably 
printed.' — Times. 
'  At  last  there  is  an  adequate  modern  edition 
of  Gibbon.    .  .   .   The  best  edition  the 
nineteenth    century    could    produce. — 
Manchester  Guardian. 
'  A  great  piece  of  editing.' — Academy. 
'The  greatest  of  English,   perhaps  of  all, 
historians  has  never   been  presented  to 
the   public   in   a   more  convenient  and 
attractive  form.     No  higher  praise  can 
be  bestowed  upon  Professor  Bury  than 
to  say,  as  may  be  said  with  truth,  that 
he  is  worthy  of  being  ranked  with  Guizot 
and  Milman.' — Daily  News. 

C.  G.  Crump.  THE  HISTORY  OF 
THE   LIFE    OF   THOMAS   ELL- 


dftetbuen's  Stanbarb  Xibrarg 

WOOD.     Edited  by  C.  G.  CRUMP, 
M.A.     Crown  8vo.    6s. 


This  edition  is  the  only  one  which  contains 
the  complete  book  as  originally  pub- 
lished. It  contains  a  long  Introduction 
and  many  Footnotes. 

' ' '  The  History  of  Thomas  EHwood  "  holds  a 
high  place  among  the  masterpieces  of 
autobiography,  and  we  know  few  books 
that  better  deserve  reprinting.  More- 
over, Mr.  C.  G.  Crump's  new  edition  is 
accurate  and  convenient,  and  we  com- 
mend it  ungrudgingly  to  all  those  who 
love  sound  and  vigorous  English.' 

— Daily  Mail. 

Tennyson.  THE  EARLY  POEMS  OF 
ALFRED,  LORD  TENNYSON, 
Edited,  with  Notes  and  an  Introduc- 
tion by  J.  Churton  Collins,  M.A. 

Crown  8vo.     6s. 

An  elaborate  edition  of  the  celebrated 
volume  which  was  published  in  its 
final  and  definitive  form  in  1853.  This 
edition  contains  a  long  Introduction  and 
copious  Notes,  textual  and  explanatory. 
It  also  contains  in  an  Appendix  all 
the_  Poems  which  Tennyson  afterwards 
omitted. 

'Mr.  Collins  is  almost  an  ideal  editor  of 
Tennyson.  His  qualities  as  a  critic  are 
an  exact  and  accurate  scholarship,  and 
a  literary  judgment,  which  has  been 
trained  and  polished  by  the  closest  study 
of  classics  both  ancient  and  modern. 
Mr.  Collins'  introduction  is  a  thoroughly 
sound  and  sane  appreciation  of  the 
merits  and  demerits  of  Tennyson.' — 
Literature. 


Zhe  WLovks  of  Sbafcespeare 

General  Editor,  Edward  Dowden,  Litt.  D. 

Messrs.   Methuen  have  in  preparation  an  Edition  of  Shakespeare  in 
single  Plays.     Each  play  will  be  edited  with  a  full   Introduction,    Textual 
Notes,  and  a  Commentary  at  the  foot  of  the  page. 
The  first  volume  is  : 


HAMLET.        Edited     by     Edward 
Dowden.     Demy  8vo.    3^.  6d. 


'An    admirable    edition. 


A    comely 


volume,  admirably  printed  and  produced, 
and  containing  all   that    a  student    of 
"  Hamlet"  need  require.' — Speaker. 
'  Fully  up  to  the  level  of  recent  scholarship, 
both  English  and  German. — Academy. 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue  13 

Zbc  Ittovels  of  Cbarles  Dickens 

Crown  8vo.     Each  Volume,  cloth  Jr.  net ;  leather  4*.  6</.  ««/. 

Messrs.  Methuen  have  in  preparation  an  edition  of  those  novels  of  Charles 
Dickens  which  have  now  passed  out  of  copyright.  Mr.  George  Gissing, 
whose  critical  study  of  Dickens  is  both  sympathetic  and  acute,  has  written  an 
Introduction  to  each  of  the  books,  and  a  very  attractive  feature  of  this  edition 
will  be  the  illustrations  of  the  old  houses,  inns,  and  buildings,  which  Dickens 
described,  and  which  have  now  in  many  instances  disappeared  under  the 
touch  of  modern  civilisation.  Another  valuable  feature  will  be  a  series  of 
topographical  and  general  notes  to  each  book  by  Mr.  F.  G.  Kitton.  The  books 
will  be  produced  with  the  greatest  care  as  to  printing,  paper  and  binding. 

The  first  volumes  are  : 

THE  PICKWICK  PAPERS.   With  Illustrations  by  E.  H.  New.    Two  Volumes. 
'  As  pleasant  a  copy  as  any  one  could  desire.     The  notes  add  much  to  the  value  of  the 
edition,  and  Sir.  New's  illustrations  are  also  historical.     The  volumes  promise  well 
for  the  success  of  the  edition.' — Scotsman. 

Gbe  Xtttle  Xibrarv 

'  The  volumes  are  compact  in  size,  printed  on  thin  but  good  paper  in  clear  type, 
prettily  and  at  the  same  time  strongly  bound,  and  altogether  good  to  look  upon  and 
handle.' — Outlook. 

Pott  Svo.     Each  Volume,  cloth  Is.  6d.  net,  leather  2s.  6d.  net. 

Messrs.  Methuen  intend  to  produce  a  series  of  small  books  under  the 
above  title,  containing  some  of  the  famous  books  in  English  and  other 
literatures,  in  the  domains  of  fiction,  poetry,  and  belies  lettres.  The  series 
will  also  contain  several  volumes  of  selections  in  prose  and  verse. 

The  books  will  be  edited  with  the  most  sympathetic  and  scholarly  care. 
Each  one  will  contain  an  Introduction  which  will  give  (1)  a  short  biography  of 
the  author,  (2)  a  critical  estimate  of  the  book.  Where  they  are  necessary, 
short  notes  will  be  added  at  the  foot  of  the  page. 

Each  book  will  have  a  portrait  or  frontispiece  in  photogravure,  and  the 
volumes  will  be  produced  with  great  care  in  a  style  uniform  with  that  of  '  The 
Library  of  Devotion.' 

The  first  volumes  are  : 

VANITY  FAIR.  By  W.  M.  Thack- 
eray. With  an  Introduction  by  S. 
Gwynn.  Illustrated  by  G.  P. 
Jacomb  Hood.     Three  Volumes. 

'  Delightful  little  volumes.' — Publishers' 
Circular. 

THE  PRINCESS.  By  Alfred,  Lord 
Tennyson.  Edited  by  Elizabeth 
Wordsworth.  Illustrated  by  W. 
E.  F.  Britten. 

'Just  what  a  pocket  edition  should  be. 
Miss  Wordsworth  contributes  an  accept- 
able introduction,  as  well  as  notes  which 
one  is  equally  glad  to  get.' — Guardian. 


IN  MEMORIAM.  By  Alfred,  Lord 
Tennyson.  Edited,  with  an  Intro- 
duction and  Notes,  by  H.  C.  Beech- 
ing,  M.A. 

'  An  exquisite  little  volume,  which  will  be 
gladly  welcomed.' — Glasgow  Herald. 

'  The  introduction,  analysis,  and  notes  by 
the  Rev.  H.  C.  Beeching  are  all  of  the 
sound  literary  quality  that  was  to  be 
expected.' — Guardian. 

'  The  footnotes  are  scholarly,  interesting, 
and  not  super-abundant.' — Standard. 

'  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  a  more  attractive 
edition.' — St.  James's  Gazette. 


M 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


Z\)c  ftittle  ©ulDes 


Pott  Svo,  cloth  y.  ; 

OXFORD    AND    ITS    COLLEGES. 
By   J.    Wells,    M.A. ,    Fellow    and 
Tutor  of  Wadham  College.      Illus- 
trated by  E.  H.  New.  Third  Edition. 
'  An  admirable  and  accurate  little  treatise, 

attractively  illustrated.' — World. 
'Aluminous  and  tasteful  little  volume.' — 
Daily  Chronicle. 

CAMBRIDGE      AND      ITS      COL- 
LEGES.   By  A.  Hamilton  Thomp- 
son.    Illustrated  by  E.  H.  New. 
'  It  is  brightly  written  and  learned,  and  is 
just  such  a  book  as  a  cultured  visitor 
needs.' — Scotsman. 


leather,  y.  6d.  net. 

SHAKESPEARE'S  COUNTRY.  By 
B.  C.  Windle,  F.R.S.,  M.A.  Illus- 
trated by  E.  H.  New.  Second  Edition. 

1  Mr.  Windle  is  thoroughly  conversant  with 
his  subject,  and  the  work  is  exceedingly 
well  done.  The  drawings,  by  Mr. 
Edmund  H.  New,  add  much  to  the 
attractiveness  of  the  volume.' — Scots- 
man. 

'  One  of  the  most  charming  guide  books. 
Both  for  the  library  and  as  a  travelling 
companion  the  book  is  equally  choice 
and  serviceable.' — Academy. 

'  A  guide  book  of  the  best  kind,  which 
takes  rank  as  literature.' — Guardian. 


Illustrated  and  Gift  Books 


Phil     May.        THE     PHIL     MAY 
ALBUM.     4/0.     6s. 
'  There   is  a    laugh    in    each    drawing.' — 
Standard. 

A.   H.  Milne.     ULYSSES;   OR,    DE 
ROUGEMONT   OF   TROY.      De- 
scribed and  depicted  by  A.  H.Milne. 
Small  quarto.     3J.  6d. 
'  Clever,  droll,  smart.' — Guardian. 

Edmund  Selous.    TOMMY  SMITH'S 

ANIMALS.     By  Edmund  Selous. 

Illustrated  by  G.  W.  Ord.  Fcap.  Svo. 

is.  6d. 

A   little   book   designed  to  teach  children 

respect  and  reverence  for  animals. 
'A  quaint,  fascinating  little  book:  a  nur- 
sery classic' — Athenceum. 

S.  Baring  Gould.     THE  CROCK  OF 
GOLD.      Fairy   Stories  told  by  S. 
Baring  Gould.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 
'  Twelve  delightful  fairy  tales.' — Punch. 

M.  L.  Gwynn.    A  BIRTHDAY  BOOK. 

Arranged    and    Edited    by    M.    L. 

Gwynn.     Demy  Svo.     12s.  6d. 

This    is  a    birthday-book    of    exceptional 

dignity,    and    the    extracts    have    been 

chosen  with  particular  care. 

John  Bunyan.  THE  PILGRIM'S 
PROGRESS.  By  John  Bunyan. 
Edited,  with  an  Introduction,  by  C.  H. 


Firth,  M.A.  With  39  Illustrations 
by  R.  Anning  Bell.  Crown  Svo.  6s. 
1  The  best  "  Pilgrim's  Progress."' — 

Educational  Times. 

F.D.Bedford.  NURSERY  RHYMES. 
With  many  Coloured  Pictures  by  F. 
D.  Bedford.    Super  Royal  Svo.    $s. 

S.  Baring  Gould.  A  BOOK  OF 
FAIRY  TALES  retold  by  S.  Baring 
Gould.  With  numerous  Illustra- 
tions and  Initial  Letters  by  Arthur 
J.  Gaskin.  Second  Edition.  Cr.  Svo. 
B?tckram.     6s. 

S.  Baring  Gould.  OLD  ENGLISH 
FAIRY  TALES.  Collected  and 
edited  by  S.  Baring  Gould.  With 
Numerous  Illustrations  by  F.  D. 
Bedford.  Second  Edition.  Cr.  Svo. 
Buckram.  6s. 
'A  charming  volume.' — Guardian. 

S.  Baring  Gould.  A  BOOK  OF 
NURSERY  SONGS  AND 
RHYMES.  Edited  by  S.  Baring 
Gould,  and  Illustrated  by  the  Bir- 
mingham Art  School.  Buckram,  gilt 
top.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 

H.  C.  Beeching.  A  BOOK  OF 
CHRISTMAS  VERSE.  Edited  by 
H.  C.  Beeching,  M.A.,  and  Illus- 
trated by  Walter  Crank.  Cr.  Svo, 
gilt  top.     2s-  £>d- 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


15 


History 


Flinders  Petrie.  A  HISTORY  OF 
EGYPT,  from  the  Earliest  Times 
to  the  Present  Day.  Edited  by 
W.  M.  Flinders  Petrie,  D.C.L., 
LL.D.,  Professor  of  Egyptology  at 
University  College.  Fully  Illustrated. 
In  Six  Volumes.     Cr.  8vo.     6s.  each. 

Vol.  I.  Prehistoric  Times  to 
XVIth  Dynasty.  W.  M.  F. 
Petrie.     Fourth  Edition. 

Vol.     II.     The    XVIIth    and 

XVIIIth  Dynasties.     W.  M. 

F.  Petrie.     Third  Edition. 
Vol.   IV.  The    Egypt    of   the 

Ptolemies.     J.  P.  Mahaffy. 
Vol.  V.    Roman  Egypt.     J.  G. 

Milne. 
'  A  history  written  in  the  spirit  of  scientific 
precision  so  worthily  represented  by  Dr. 
Petrie  and  his  school  cannot  but  pro- 
mote sound  and  accurate  study,  and 
supply  a  vacant  place  in  the  English 
literature  of  Egyptology.'— Times. 

Flinders  Petrie.     RELIGION  AND 
CONSCIENCE      IN      ANCIENT 
EGYPT.       By    W.    M.   Flinders 
Petrie,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.     Fully  Illus- 
trated.    Crown  8vo.     2s.  6d. 
'  The  lectures  will  afford  a  fund  of  valuable 
information    for    students    of    ancient 
ethics.' — Manchester  Guardian. 

Hinders      Petrie.         SYRIA     AND 

EGYPT,  FROM  THE  TELL   EL 

AMARNA  TABLETS.     By  W.  M. 

Flinders  Petrie,  D.C.L.,  LL.D. 

Crown  8vo.     zs.  6d. 

1  A  marvellous  record.     The  addition  made 

to  our  knowledge  is   nothing   short   of 

amazing.' — Times. 

Hinders  Petrie.  EGYPTIAN  TALES. 

Edited  by  W.  M.  Flinders  Petrie. 

Illustrated  by  Tristram  Ellis.    In 

Two  Volumes.     Cr.  8vo.    3s.  6d.  each. 

'  Invaluable  as  a  picture  of  life  in  Palestine 

and  Egypt.' — Daily  Neivs. 


Flinders  Petrie.  EGYPTIAN  DECO- 
RATIVE ART.  By  W.  M.  Flin- 
ders Petrie.  With  120  Illustrations. 
Cr.  8vo.     2s.  6d. 

'  In  these  lectures  he  displays  rare  skill  in 
elucidating  the  development  of  decora- 
tive art  in  Egypt.' — Times. 

C.  W.  Oman.  A  HISTORY  OF  THE 
ART  OF  WAR.  Vol.  H.  :  Tin- 
Middle  Ages,  from  the  Fourth  to  the 
Fourteenth  Century.  By  C.  W. 
Oman,  M.A.,  Fellow  of  All  Souls', 
Oxford.   Illustrated.    Demy  8vo.   21s. 

'  The  whole  art  of  war  in  its  historic  evolu- 
tion has  never  been  treated  on  such  an 
ample  and  comprehensive  scale,  and  we 
question  if  any  recent  contribution  to 
the  exact  history  of  the  world  has  pos- 
sessed more  enduring  value.' — Daily 
Chronicle. 

S.  Baring  Gould.  THE  TRAGEDY 
OF  THE  CAESARS.  With  nume- 
rous Illustrations  from  Busts,  Gems, 
Cameos,  etc.  By  S.  Baring  Gould. 
Fourth  Edition.     Royal  8vo.     ijs. 

'A  most  splendid  and  fascinating  book  on  a 
subject  of  undying  interest.  The  great 
feature  of  the  book  is  the  use  the  author 
has  made  of  the  existing  portraits  of 
the  Caesars  and  the  admirable  critical 
subtlety  he  has  exhibited  in  dealing  with 
this  line  of  research.  It  is  brilliantly 
written,  and  the  illustrations  are  sup- 
plied on  a  scale  of  profuse  magnificence.' 
— Daily  Chronicle. 

F.  W.  Maitland.  CANON  LAW  IN 
ENGLAND.  By  F.  W.  Maitland, 
LL.D.,  Downing  Professor  of  the 
Laws  of  England  in  the  University 
of  Cambridge.     Royal  ivo.     7s.  6d. 

'Professor  Maitland  has  put  students  of 
English  law  under  a  fresh  debt.  These 
essays  are  landmarks  in  the  study  of  the 
history  of  Canon  Law.'— Times. 


i6 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


H.  de  B.  Gibbins.  INDUSTRY  IN 
ENGLAND  :  HISTORICAL  OUT- 
LINES. By  H.  de  B.  Gibbins, 
Litt.D.,  M.A.  With  5  Maps.  Se- 
cond Edition.     Demy  8vo.     10s.  6d. 

H.  E.  Egerton.  A  HISTORY  OF 
BRITISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 
By  H.  E.  Egerton,  M,A.  Demy 
8w.     12s.  6d. 

'  It  is  a  good  book,  distinguished  by  accu- 
racy in  detail,  clear  arrangement  of  facts, 
and  a  broad  grasp  of  principles.' — 
Manchester  Guardian. 


Albert  Sorel.  THE  EASTERN 
QUESTION  IN  THE  EIGH- 
TEENTH CENTURY.  By  Albert 
Sorel.  Translated  by  F.  C.  Bram- 
vvell,  M.A.     Cr.  8vo.     2s-  §d. 

C.  H.   Grinling.      A    HISTORY    OF 
THE  GREAT  NORTHERN  RAIL- 
WAY,   1845-95.     By  C.    H.    Grin- 
ling.  With  Illustrations.    DemyZvo. 
icu.  6d. 
'  Mr.  Grinling  has  done  for  a  Railway  what 
Macaulay  did   for   English   History.' — 
The  Engineer. 

W.  Sterry.  ANNALS  OF  ETON 
COLLEGE.  By  W.  Sterry,  M.A. 
With  numerous  Illustrations.  Demv 
8vo.     js.  6d. 

read- 
and 


'  A  treasury  of  quaint  and  interesting  1 
ing.      Mr.   Sterry  has  by  his  skill  - 
vivacity  given  these  records  new  life.  - 
A  cademy. 

G.W.Fisher.  ANNALS  OF  SHREWS- 
BURY    SCHOOL.         By    G.     W. 

Fisher,  M.A.    With  numerous  Illus- 
trations.    Demy  8vo.     10s.  6d. 

'This     careful,      erudite       book.' — Daily 

Chronicle. 
'  A  book  of  which  Old  Salopians  are  sure 

to  be  proud." — Globe. 

J.  Sargeaunt.  ANNALS  OF  WEST- 
MINSTER SCHOOL.  By  J.  Sar- 
geaunt, M.A.  With  numerous 
Illustrations.     Demy  8vo.     js.  6d. 


A.  Clark.  THE  COLLEGES  OF 
OXFORD :  Their  History  and  their 
Traditions.  Edited  by  A.  Clark, 
M.A.,  Fellow  of  Lincoln  College. 
8vo.     12s.  6d. 

'  A  work  which  will  be  appealed  to  for 
many  years  as  the  standard  book.' — 
A  thenaum. 

T.  M.  Taylor.  A  CONSTITUTIONAL 
AND  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF 
ROME.  By  T.  M.  Taylor,  M.  A., 
Fellow  of  Gonville  and  Caius  College, 
Cambridge.     Crown  8vo.     ys.  6d. 

'  We  fully  recognise  the  value  of  this  care- 
fully written  work,  and  admire  especially 
the  fairness  and  sobriety  of  his  judgment 
and  the  human  interest  with  which  he 
has  inspired  a  subject  which  in  some 
hand9  becomes  a  mere  series  of  cold 
abstractions.  It  is  a  work  that  will  be 
stimulating  to  the  student  of  Roman 
history. ' — A  thcnaum. 

J.  Wells.  A  SHORT  HISTORY  OF 
ROME.  By  J.  Wells,  M.A., 
Fellow  and  Tutor  of  Wadham  Coll. , 
Oxford.  Third  Edition.  With  3 
Maps.     Crown  8vo.     3s.  6d. 

This  book  is  intended  for  the  Middle  and 
Upper  Forms  of  Public  Schools  and  for 
Pass  Students  at  the  Universities.  It 
contains  copious  Tables,  etc. 

'An  original  work  written  on  an  original 
plan,  and  with  uncommon  freshness  and 
vigour. ' — Speaker. 

0.  Browning.  A  SHORT  HISTORY 
OF  MEDIAEVAL  ITALY,  a.d. 
1250-1530.  By  Oscar  Browning, 
Fellow  and  Tutor  of  King's  College, 
Cambridge.  In  Two  Volumes.  Cr. 
8vo.     $s.  each. 

Vol.  1.   1250-1409. — Guelphs  and 
Ghibellines. 

Vol.   11.    1409-1530. — The  Age  of 
the  Condottieri. 

O'Grady.  THE  STORY  OF  IRE- 
LAND. By  Standish  O'Grady, 
Author  of '  Finn  and  his  Companions. 
Crown  8vo.     2s.  6d. 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


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SSgsantme  Gejts 

Edited  by  J.  B.  Bury,  M.A. 


ZACHARIAH  OF  MITYLENE. 
Translated  into  English  by  F.  J. 
Hamilton,  D.D.,  and  E.  W. 
Brooks.     Demy  8vo.     12s.  6d.  net. 

EVAGRIUS.      Edited    by    Professor 


Leon  Parmentier  and  M.  Bidez. 
Demy  8vo.     10s.  6d.  net. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  PSELLUS. 
By  C.  Sathas.  Demy  8vo.  i$s. 
net. 


Biography 


R.  L.  Stevenson.  THE  LETTERS 
OF  ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVEN- 
SON TO  HIS  FAMILY  AND 
FRIENDS.  Selected  and  Edited, 
with  Notes  and  Introductions,  by 
Sidney  Colvin.  Third  Edition. 
Demy  8vo,  2  vols.,  2$s.  net. 

'Irresistible  in  their  raciness,  their  variety, 
their  animation  ...  of  extraordinary 
fascination.  A  delightful  inheritance, 
the  truest  record  of  a  "richly  com- 
pounded spirit "  that  the  literature  of 
our  time  has  preserved.' — Times. 

*  There  are  few  books  so  interesting,  so 
moving,  and  so  valuable  as  this  collec- 
tion of  letters.  One  can  only  commend 
people  to  read  and  re-read  the  book.  The 
volumes  are  beautiful,  and  Mr.  Colvin's 
part  of  the  work  could  not  have  been 
better  done,  his  introduction  is  a  master- 
piece. ' — Sped  a  tor. 

J.  G.  Millais.  THE  LIFE  AND 
LETTERS  OF  SIR  JOHN 
EVERETT  MILLAIS,  President  of 
the  Royal  Academy.  By  his  Son, 
J.  G.  Millais.  With  319  Illus- 
trations, of  which  g  are  in  Photo- 
gravure. Second  Edition,  2  vols, 
Royal  8vo,  32^.  net. 

'  The  illustrations  make  the  book  delightful 
to  handle  or  to  read.  The  eye  lingers 
lovingly  upon  the  beautiful  pictures.' — 
Standard. 

'  This  charming  book  is  a  gold  mine  of  good 
things.' — Daily  News. 


'  This  splendid  work.' — World. 

'  Of  such  absorbing  interest  is  it,  of  such 
completeness  in  scope  and  beauty. 
Special  tribute  must  be  paid  to  the 
extraordinary  completeness  of  the  illus- 
trations. ' — Graphic. 

S.   Baring  Gould.     THE    LIFE    OF 
NAPOLEON    BONAPARTE.      By 
S.  Baring  Gould.    With  over  450 
Illustrations    in    the    Text    and     12 
Photogravure  Plates.     Large  quarto. 
Gilt  top.     36^. 
'  The  main  feature  of  this  gorgeous  volume 
is  its  great  wealth   of  beautiful    photo- 
gravures    and     finely  -  executed     wood 
engravings,     constituting     a     complete 
pictorial    chronicle     of    Napoleon    I.'s 
personal  history  from  the  days  of  his  early 
childhood  at  Ajaccio  to  the  date  of  his 
second  interment.' — Daily  Telegraph. 

P.  H.  Colomb.  MEMOIRS  OF  AD- 
MIRAL SIR  A.  COOPER  KEY. 
By  Admiral  P.  H.  Colomb.  With 
a  Portrait.     Demy  8vo,     i6j. 

Morris  Fuller.  THE  LIFE  AND 
WRITINGS  OF  JOHN  DAVEN- 
ANT,  D.D.  (1571-1641),  Bishop  of 
Salisbury.  By  Morris  Fuller, 
B.D.     Demy  8vo.     10s.  6d. 

J.  M.  Rigg.  ST.  ANSELM  OF 
CANTERBURY:  A  Chapter  in 
the  History  of  Religion.  By 
J.  M.  Rigg.     Demy  8vo.    7s.  6d. 

3 


iB 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


F.  W.  Joyce.  THE  LIFE  OF 
SIR  FREDERICK  GORE  OUSE- 
LEY.   By  F.  W.  Joyce,  M.A.  js.  6d. 

W.  G.  Collingwood.  THE  LIFE  OF 
JOHN  RUSK1N.  By  W.  G. 
Collingwood,  M.A.  With  Por- 
traits, and  13  Drawings  by  Mr. 
Ruskin.  Second  Edition.  2  vols. 
8vo.  32s.  Cheap  Edition.  Crown 
8vo.     6s. 

C.  Waldstein.  JOHN  RUSKIN,  By 
Charles  Waldstein,  M.A.  With 
a  Photogravure  Portrait,  PostZvo.  55. 

A.  M.  F.  Darmesteter,  THE  LIFE 
OF      ERNEST      RENAN.        By 


Madame     Darmesteter.      With 
Portrait.  Second  Edition.  Cr.  8vo.  6s. 

W.  H.  Hutton.     THE  LIFE  OF  SIR 

THOMAS    MORE.       By    W.     H. 

Hutton,    M.A.      With    Portraits. 

Second  Edition.     Cr.  8vo.     5-f. 

'  The  book  lays  good  claim  to  high  rank 
among  our  biographies.  It  is  excellently, 
even  lovingly,  written.' — Scotsman. 

S.  Baring  Gould.  THE  VICAR  OF 
MORWENSTOW:  A  Biography. 
By  S.  Baring  Gould,  M.A.  A 
new  and  Revised  Edition.  With 
Portrait.     Crown  8vo.     y.  &d- 

A  completely  new  edition  of  the  well  known 
biography  of  R.  S.  Hawker. 


Travel,  Adventure  and  Topography 


Sven  Hedin.    THROUGH  ASIA.   By 

Sven  Hedin,  Gold  Medallist  of  the 

Royal  Geographical  Society.     With 

300     Illustrations     from     Sketches 

and    Photographs    by    the    Author, 

and  Maps.  2  vols.  Royal  8vo.  20s.  net. 

'One  of  the  greatest  books  of  the  kind 
issued  during  the  century.  It  is  im- 
possible to  give  an  adequate  idea  of  the 
richness  of  the  contents  of  this  book, 
nor  of  its  abounding  attractions  as  a  story 
of  travel  unsurpassed  in  geographical 
and  human  interest.  Much  of  it  is  a 
revelation.  Altogether  the  work  is  one 
which  in  solidity,  novelty,  and  interest 
must  take  a  first  rank  among  publica- 
tions of  its  class. ' —  Times. 

F.  H.  Skrine  and  E.  D.  Ross.  THE 
HEART  OF  ASIA.  By  F.  H. 
Skrine  and  E.  D.  Ross.  With 
Maps  and  many  Illustrations  by 
Verestchagin.  Large  Crown  8w. 
10s,  6d.  net. 
'  This  volume  will  form  a  landmark  in  our 


knowledge  of  Central  Asia.  .  .  .  Illumin- 
ating and  convincing.' — Times. 

R.  E.  Peary.     NORTHWARD  OVER 
THE  GREAT  ICE.  ByR.E.  Peary, 
Gold  Medallist  of  the  Royal  Geogra- 
phical Society.     With  over  800  Illus- 
trations.   2  vols.    Royal 8vo.    32s.net. 
'  His  book  will  take  its  place  among  the  per- 
manent literature  of  Arctic  exploration.' 
—  Times. 

E.  A.  FitzGerald.  THE  HIGHEST 
ANDES.  By  E.  A.  FitzGerald. 
With  2  Maps,  51  Illustrations,  13  of 
which  are  in  Photogravure,  and  a 
Panorama.  Royal  8vo,  30J.  net. 
Also  a  Small  Edition  on  Hand-made 
Paper,  limited  to  50  Copies,  a,to, 
£s<  5s- 

'  The  record  of  the  first  ascent  of  the  highest 
mountain  yet  conquered  by  mortal  man. 
A  volume  which  will  continue  to  be  the 
classic  book  of  travel  on  this  region  of 
the  Andes.' — Daily  Chronicle. 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


19 


F.  W.  Christian.  THE  CAROLINE 
ISLANDS.  By  F.  W.  Christian. 
With  many  Illustrations  and  Maps. 
Demy  8vo.     12s.  6d.  net. 

'A  real  contribution  to  our  knowledge  of 
the  peoples  and  islands  of  Micronesia, 
as  well  as  fascinating  as  a  narrative  of 
travels  and  adventure.' — Scotsman. 

H.  H.  Johnston.  BRITISH  CEN- 
TRAL AFRICA.  By  Sir  H.  H. 
Johnston,  K.C.B.  With  nearly 
Two  Hundred  Illustrations,  and  Six 
Maps.  Second  Edition,  Crown  qto. 
\8s,  net, 

'A  fascinating  book,  written  with  equal 
skill  and  charm — the  work  at  once  of  a 
literary  artist  and  of  a  man  of  action 
who  is  singularly  wise,  brave,  and  ex- 
perienced. It  abounds  in  admirable 
sketches. ' — Westminster  Gazette. 

I.  Decle.  THREE  YEARS  IN 
SAVAGE  AFRICA.  By  Lionel 
Decle.  With  100  Illustrations  and 
5  Maps.  Second  Edition.  Demy  8vo. 
10s.  6d.  net. 

'Its  bright  pages  give  a  better  general 
survey  of  Africa  from  the  Cape  to  the 
Equator  than  any  single  volume  that 
has  yet  been  published.' — Times.    ' 

A.  Hulme  Beaman.  TWENTY 
YEARS  IN  THE  NEAR  EAST. 
By  A.  Hulme  Beaman.  Demy 
8vo.     With  Portrait.     10s.  6d. 

Henri  of  Orleans.  FROM  TONKIN 
TO  INDIA.  By  Prince  Henri  of 
Orleans.  Translated  by  Hamley 
Bent,  M.A.  With  100  Illustrations 
and  a  Map.     Cr.  tfo,  gilt  top.     25s. 

S.  L.  Hinde.  THE  FALL  OF  THE 
CONGO  ARABS.  By  S.  L.  Hinde. 
With  Plans,  etc.    Demy  8vo.     12s.  6d. 

A.  St.  H.  Gibbons.  EXPLORATION 
AND  HUNTING  IN  CENTRAL 
AFRICA.  By  Major  A.  St.  H. 
Gibbons.  With  full-page  Illustra- 
tions by  C.  Whymper,  and  Maps. 
Demy  8vo,     15*. 


Fraser.  ROUND  THE  WORLD 
ON  A  WHEEL.  By  John  Foster 
Fraser.  With  100  Illustrations. 
Crown  8vo.     6s. 

'  A  classic  of  cycling,  graphic  and  witty.' — 
Yorkshire  Post. 

R.  L.  Jefferson.  A  NEW  RIDE  TO 
KHIVA.  By  R.  L.  Jefferson. 
Illustrated.     Crown  8vo,  6s. 

The  account  of  an  adventurous  ride  on  a 
bicycle  through  Russia  and  the  deserts 
of  Asia  to  Khiva. 

'  An  exceptionally  fascinating  book  of 
travel.'— Fait  Mali  Gazette. 

J.  K.  Trotter.  THE  NIGER 
SOURCES.  By  Colonel  J.  K. 
Trotter,  R.A.  With  a  Map  and 
Illustrations.     Crown  8vo.     55. 

Michael  Davitt.  LIFE  AND  PRO- 
GRESS IN  AUSTRALASIA.  By 
Michael  Davitt,  M.P.  500  pp. 
With  2  Maps.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 


W.  J.  Galloway.  ADVANCED  AUS- 
TRALIA. By  William  J.  Gal- 
loway, M.  P.     Crown  8vo.     35.  6d. 

'This  is  an  unusally  thorough  and  informa- 
tive little  work.' — Morning  Post. 

W.  Crooke.  THE  NORTH- 
WESTERN PROVINCES  OF 
INDIA :  Their  Ethnology  and 
Administration.  By  W.  Crooke. 
With  Maps  and  Illustrations.  Demy 
8vo.     10s.  6d. 

A.  Boisragon.  THE  BENIN  MAS- 
SACRE.  By  Captain  Boisragon. 
Second  Edition.     Cr.  8vo.     35.  6d. 

'  If  the  story  had  been  written  four  hundred 
years  ago  it  would  be  read  to-day  as  an 
English  classic' — Scotsman. 


H.  S.  Cowper.  THE  HILL  OF  THE 
GRACES :  or,  the  Great  Stone 
Temples  of  Tripoli.  By  H.  St 
Cowper,  F.S.A.  With  Maps,  Plans, 
and 75  Illustrations.  Dcmy8vo.  ios.6d. 


20 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


W.  B.  Worsfold.     SOUTH  AFRICA. 

By  W.  B.  Worsfold,  M.A.     With 

a  Map.  Second  Edition.    Cr.  8vo.    6s. 

'  A   monumental   work  compressed  into  a 

very  moderate  compass.' — World. 

Katherine  and  Gilbert  Macquoid.  IN 
PARIS.  By  Katherine  and  Gil- 
bert Macquoid.  Illustrated  by 
Thomas  R.  Macquoid,  R.I.  With 
2  maps.  Crown  8vo.  is. 
'A  useful  little  guide,  judiciously  supplied 
with  information.' — Athencpunt. 


A.  H.  Keane.  THE  BOER  STATES  { 
A  History  and  Description  of  the 
Transvaal  and  the  Orange  Free  State. 
By  A.  H.  Keane,  M.A.  With 
Map.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 

'  A  work  of  clear  aims  and  thorough  execu- 
tion. ' — A  cademy. 

'  A  compact  and  very  trustworthy  accou: 
of  the  Boers  and  their  surroundings.' 

— Morning-  Post 


Naval  and  Military 


G.   S.   Robertson.     CHITRAL:   The 

Story   of    a    Minor    Siege.     By    Sir 

G.  S.  Robertson,  K. C.S.I.     With 

numerouslllustrations,  Map  and  Plans. 

Second  Edition.    Demy  8vo.    ios.  6d. 

'  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  the  kind  of  person 

who  could  read  this  brilliant  book  without 

emotion.     The  story  remains  immortal — 

a  testimony  imperishable.     We  are  face 

to  face  with  a  great  hook.'  —Illustrated 

London  News. 

'  A  book  which  the  Elizabethans  would  have 

thought  wonderful.  More  thrilling,  more 

piquant,   and    more    human    than    any 

novel.' — Nezucastle  Chronicle. 

'As  fascinating  as  Sir  Walter  Scott's  best 

fiction.' — Daily  Telegraph. 

R.  S.  S.  Baden-Powell.  THE  DOWN- 
FALL OF  PREMPEH.  A  Diary  of 
Life  in  Ashanti,  1895.  By  Maj.-Gen. 
Baden-Powell.  With  21  Illustra- 
tions and  a  Map.  Cheaper  Edition. 
Large  Crown  8vo.     6s. 

R.  S.  S.  Baden-Powell.  THE  MATA- 
BELE CAMPAIGN,  1896.  By  Maj.- 
Gen.  Baden-Powell.  With  nearly 
100  Illustrations.  Cheaper  Edition. 
Large  Crown  8vo.     6s. 

J.  B.  Atkins.  THE  RELIEF  OF 
LADYSMITH.  By  John  Black 
Atkins.  With  16  Plans  and  Illus- 
trations. Second  Edition,  Crown 
8vo.     6s. 

This  book  contains  a  full  narrative  by  an 
eye-witness  of  General  Bullcr's  attempts, 


and  of  his  final  success.  The  story  is  of 
absorbing  interest,  and  is  the  only  com' 
plete  account  which  has  appeared. 

'  The  mantle  of  Archibald  Forbes  and  G. 
W.  Steevens  has  assuredly  fallen  upon 
Mr.  Atkins,  who  unites  a  singularly 
graphic  style  to  an  equa  ly  rare  faculty 
of  vision.  In  his  pages- we  realise  the 
meaning  of  a  modern  campaign  with  the 
greatest  sense  of  actuality.  His  pages 
are  written  with  a  sustained  charm  of 
diction  and  ease  of  manner  that  are  no 
less  remarkable  than  the  sincerity  and 
vigour  of  the  matter  which  they  set 
before  us.' — World. 

'  Mr.  Atkins  has  a  genius  for  the  painti: 
of  war  which  entitles  him  already  to 
ranked  with  Forbes  and  Steevens,  and 
encourages  us  to  hope  that  he  may  one 
day  rise  to  the  level  of  Napier  and 
Kinglake.  '—Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

'  It  is  the  record  told  with  insight  and 
sympathy  of  a  great  conflict.  It  is  as 
readable  as  a  novel,  and  it  bears  the 
imprint  of  truth.' — Morning  Leader. 

H.  W.  Nevinson.  LADYSMITH  :  The 
Diary  of  a  Siege.  By  H.  W.  Nevin- 
son. With  16  Illustrations  and  a 
Plan.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 

This  book  contains  a  complete  diary  of  the 
Siegeof  Ladysmith,  and  is  a  most  vivid 
and  picturesque  narrative. 

1  There  is  no  exaggeration  here,  no  strain- 
ing after  effect.  But  there  is  the  truest 
realism,  the  impression  of  things  as  they 
are  seen,  set  forth  in  well-chosen  words 
and  well-balanced  phrases,  with  a  mea- 


I 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


21 


sured  self-restraint  that  marks  the  true 
artist.  Mr.  Nevinson  is  to  be  congratu- 
lated on  the  excellent  work  that  he  has 
done.' — Daily  Chronic 
'  Of  the  many  able  and  fascinating  chroni- 
clers of  the  sad  and  splendid  story,  Mr. 
Nevinson  is  among  the  ablest  and  most 
fascinating.' — Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

E,  H.  Alderson.  WITH  THE 
MOUNTED  INFANTRY  AND 
THE  MASHONALAND  FIELD 
FORCE,  1896.  By  Lieut. -Colonel 
Alderson.  With  numerous  Illus- 
trations and  Plans.  Demy  Svo. 
10s.  6d. 

Seymour  Vandeleur.  CAMPAIGN- 
ING ON  THE  UPPER  NILE 
AND  NIGER.  By  Lieut.  Seymour 
Vandeleur.  With  an  Introduction 
by  Sir  G.  Goldie,  K.C.M.G.  With 
4  Maps,  Illustrations,  and  Plans. 
Large  Crown  Svo.     10s.  6d. 

Lord  Fincastle.  A  FRONTIER 
CAMPAIGN.  By  Viscount  Fin- 
castle, V.C.,  and  Lieut.  P.  C. 
Elliott-Lockhart.  With  a  Map 
and  16  Illustrations.  Second  Edition. 
Crown  Svo.     6s. 

E.  N.  Bennett.  THE  DOWNFALL 
OF  THE  DERVISHES:  A  Sketch 
of  the  Sudan  Campaign  of  1898.  By 
E.  N.  Bennett,  Fellow  of  Hertford 
College.  With  a  Photogravure  Por- 
trait of  Lord  Kitchener.  Third 
Edition.    Crown  Svo.     3.$.  6d. 

W.  Kinnaird  Rose.  WITH  THE 
GREEKS  IN  THESSALY.  By 
W.  Kinnaird  Rose.  With  Illus- 
trations.    Crown  Svo.     6s. 

G.  W.  Steevens.    NAVAL  POLICY  : 

ByG.  W.  Steevens.    Demy  Svo.    6s. 

This  book  is  a  description  of  the  British  and 

other  more  important  navies  of  the  world, 

with  a  sketch  of  the  lines  on  which  our 

naval  policy  might  possibly  be  developed. 

D.  Hannay.  A  SHORT  HISTORY 
OF   THE    ROYAL   NAVY,   From 


Early  Times  to  the  Present  Day. 

By  David  Hannay.       Illustrated. 

2    Vols.     Demy  Svo.     js.    6d.    each. 

Vol.  I.,  1200-1688. 
'  We  read  it  from  cover  to  cover  at  a  sitting, 
and  those  who  go  to  it  for  a  lively  and 
brisk  picture  of  the  past,  with  all  its  faults 
and  its  grandeur,  will  not  be  disappointed. 
The  historian  is  endowed  with  literary 
skill  and  style.'— Standard. 

C.   Cooper  King.    THE  STORY  OF 

THE  BRITISH  ARMY.   By  Colonel 

Cooper  King.     Illustrated.     Demy 

Svo.     7s.  6d. 

'  An   authoritative   and   accurate   story  of 

England's     military     progress.' — Daily 

Mail. 

R.  Southey.  ENGLISH  SEAMEN 
(Howard,  Clifford,  Hawkins,  Drake, 
Cavendish).  By  Robert  Southey. 
Edited,  with  an  Introduction,  by 
David  Hannay.  Second  Edition. 
Crown  Svo.  6s. 
'A  brave,  inspiriting  book.' — Black  and 
White. 

W.   Clark  RusseU.     THE  LIFE  OF 

ADMIRAL      LORD      COLLING- 

WOOD.    By  W.  Clark  Russell. 

With  Illustrations  by  F.  Brangwyn. 

Third  Edition.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 

'  A  book  which  we  should  like  to  see  in  the 

hands  of  every  boy  in  the   country.' — 

St.  James's  Gazette. 

E.  L.  S.  Horsburgh.    WATERLOO :  A 

Narrative  and  Criticism.    By  E.  L.  S. 

Horsburgh,     B.  A.     With    Plans. 

Second  Edition.     Crown  Svo.     $s. 

'A    brilliant    essay— simple,     sound,     and 

thorough.' — Daily  Chronicle. 

H.  B.  George.  BATTLES  OF 
ENGLISH  HISTORY.  By  H.  B. 
George,  M.A.,  Fellow  of  New 
College,  Oxford.  With  numerous 
Plans.  Third  Edition.  Cr.  Svo.  6s. 
'  Mr.  George  has  undertaken  a  very  useful 
task — that  of  making  military  affairs  in- 
telligible and  instructive  to  non-military 
readers — and  has  execute!  it  with  a 
large  measure  ot  success.' — Times. 


22 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


General  Literature 


S.  Baring  Gould.  THE  BOOK  OF 
THE  WEST.  By  S.  Baring 
Gould.  With  numerous  Illustra- 
tions. Tzvo  volumes.  Vol.  I.  Devon. 
Vol.  II.  Cornwall.  Crown  8vo. 
6s.  each. 

'  They  are  very  attractive  little  volumes, 
they   have   numerous   very  pretty   and 
interesting  pictures,  the  story  is  fresh 
and  bracing  as  the  air  of  Dartmoor,  and 
the  legend  weird  as  twilight  over  Doz- 
mare  Pool,  and  they  give  us  a  very  good 
idea  of  this  enchanting   and   beautiful 
district.' — Guardian. 
'  A  narrative  full  of  picturesque  incident, 
personal  interest,  and  literary  charm.' — 
Leeds  Mercury. 
S.  Baring  Gould.    OLD  COUNTRY 
LIFE.   By  S.  Baring  Gould.   With 
Sixty-seven  Illustrations.     Large  Cr. 
8vo.     Fifth  Edition,     6s. 
' '  Old  Country  Life,"  as  healthy  wholesome 
reading,    full  of  breezy  life  and   move- 
ment, full  of  quaint  stories  vigorously 
told,  will  not  be  excelled  by  any  book  to 
be     published     throughout     the     year. 
Sound,  hearty,  and  English  to  the  core.' 
—  World. 

S.  Baring  Gould.  AN  OLD  ENGLISH 
HOME.      By   S.   Baring  Gould. 
With   numerous   Plans  and  Illustra- 
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W.  E.  Gladstone.  THE  SPEECHES 
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:  J.    E.    Marr.       THE    SCIENTIFIC 
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An  elementary  treatise  on  geomorphology 
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Messrs.  Metiiuen's  Catalogue 


23 


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HUNTING.   By  Peter  Beckford. 

Edited  by    J.    Otho    Paget,    and 

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Rosemary  Cotes.      DANTE'S  GAR- 
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L.  Whibley.  GREEK  OLIGARCH- 
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broke College,  Cambridge.  Crown 
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ford.    Crown  8vo.     6s. 


24 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


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man.    Fcap  8vo.     2S. 

A   practical    guide,   with    many    specimen 
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E.  M.  Bowden.  THE  EXAMPLE  OF 
BUDDHA:  Being  Quotations  from 


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house,   Fellow  of    C.C.C.,   Oxford. 
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W.  H.  Fail-brother.  THE  PHILO- 
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.  W.  Bussell.  THE  SCHOOL  OF 
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Demy  8vo.     \os.  6d. 

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W.  R.  Inge.     CHRISTIAN  MYSTI- 
CISM.     The  Bampton  Lectures  for 
1899.    By  W.  R.  Inge,  M.A.,  Fellow 
and    Tutor    of    Hertford     College, 
Oxford.     De7ny  8vo.     12s.  6d.  net. 
A  complete  survey  of  the  subject  from  St. 
John    and   St.    Paul   to   modern   times, 
covering  the  Christian  Platonists,  Augus- 
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S.  R.  Driver.  SERMONS  ON  SUB- 
JECTS CONNECTED  WITH 
THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  By  S. 
R.  Driver,  D.D.,  Canon  of  Christ 
Church,  Regius  Professor  of  Hebrew 


Cr.  8vo. 


in  the  University  of  Oxford. 
6.?. 

'A  welcome  companion  to  the  author's 
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T.  K.  Cheyne.  FOUNDERS  OF  OLD 
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fessor at  Oxford.  Large  Crown  8vo. 
ys.  6d. 

A  historical  sketch  of  O.  T.  Criticism. 

Walter  Lock.  ST.  PAUL,  THE 
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College.      Crown  8vo.     35.  6d. 

'The  essence  of  the  Pauline  teaching  is 
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dred pages,  yet  no  point  of  importance 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


25 


is  overlooked.  We  gladly  recommend 
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H.  Rashdall.  DOCTRINE  AND 
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He  is  often  learned,  almost  always  sym- 
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H.  H.  Henson.  APOSTOLIC  CHRIS- 
TIANITY: As  Illustrated  by  the 
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By  H.  H.  Henson,  M.A.,  Fellow  of 
All  Souls',  Oxford.     Cr.  8vo.     6s. 

H.  H.  Henson.  DISCIPLINE  AND 
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Fcap.  8vo.     2S.  6d. 

H.  H.  Henson.  LIGHT  AND 
LEAVEN  :  Historical  and 
Social  Sermons.  By  H.  H.  Hex- 
son,  M.A.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 

Bennett  and  Adeney.  A  BIBLICAL 
INTRODUCTION.  By  W.  H. 
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M.A.     Crown  8vo.     ys.  6d. 

'It  makes  available  to  the  ordinary  reader 
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W.   H.   Bennett.      A    PRIMER    OF 

THE  BIBLE.     By  W.  H.  Bennett. 

Second  Edition.     Cr.  8vo.     2s.  6d. 

'  The  work  of  an  honest,  fearless,  and  sound 

critic,  and  an  excellent  guide  in  a  small 

compass  to  the  books  of  the   Bible.' — 

Manchester  Guardian. 

C.  F.  G.  Masterman.  TENNYSON 
AS  A  RELIGIOUS  TEACHER. 
By  C.  F.  G.  Masterman.  Crown 
8vo.     6s. 

'A  thoughtful  and  penetrating  appreciation, 
full  of  interest  and  suggestion.' — World. 

William    Harrison.       CLOVELLY 

SERMONS.     By  William  Harri-  \ 


son,  M.A.,  late  Rector  of  Clovelly. 
With  a  Preface  by  '  LUCAS  Malet.' 
Cr.  8vo.  2is-  &d. 
Cecilia  Robinson.  THE  MINISTRY 
OF  DEACONESSES.  By  Deacon- 
ness  Cecilia  Robinson.  With  an 
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Winchester.     Cr.  8vo.     35.  6d. 

'  A  learned  and   interesting  book.' — Scots- 
man. 

E.  B.  Layard.  RELIGION  IN  BOY- 
HOOD. Notes  on  the  Religious 
Training  of  Boys.  By  E.  B. 
Layard,  M.A.     i8mo.  is. 

T.  Herbert  Bindley.  THE  OECU- 
MENICAL DOCUMENTS  OF 
THE  FAITH.  Edited  with  Intro- 
ductions and  Notes  by  T.  Herbert 
Bindley,  B.D.,  Merton  College, 
Oxford.     Crozvn  8vo.     6s. 

A  historical  account  of  the  Creeds. 
'  Mr.  Bindley  has  done  his  work  in  a  fashion 
which  calls  for  our  warmest  gratitude. 
The  introductions,  though  brief,  are 
always  direct  and  to  the  point ;  the  notes 
are  learned  and  full,  and  serve  admirably 
to  elucidate  the  many  difficulties  of  the 
text.' — Guardian. 

H.  M.  Barron.  TEXTS  FOR  SER- 
MONS ON  VARIOUS  OCCA- 
SIONS AND  SUBJECTS.  Com- 
piled and  Arranged  by  H.  M.  Bar- 
ron, B.A. ,  of  Wadham  College, 
Oxford,  with  a  Preface  by  Canon 
Scott  Holland.  Crown  8vo.  3s. 
6d. 

W.  Yorke  Fausset.  THE  DE 
CATECHIZANDIS  RUD1BUS 
OF  ST.  AUGUSTINE.  Edited, 
with  Introduction,  Notes,  etc.,  by 
W.  Yorke  Fausset,  M.A.  Cr.  8vo. 
35.  6d. 

F.  Weston.  THE  HOLY  SACRI- 
FICE. By  F.  Weston,  M.A, 
Curate  of  St.  Matthew's,  Westmin- 
ster.    Pott  8vo.     6d.  net. 

A  Kempis.  THE  IMITATION  OF 
CHRIST.  By  Thomas  A  Kempis. 
With  an  Introduction  by  Dean 
Farrar.  Illustrated  by  C.  M. 
Gere.  Second  Edition.  Fcap.  8vo. 
35.  6d.  Padded  morocco,  $s. 
'  Amongst    all    the    innumerable    English 


26 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


editions  of  the  "Imitation,"  there  can 
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this  one,  printed  in  strong  and  handsome 
type,  with  all  the  glory  of  red  initials.'— 
Glasgow  Herald. 

J.  Keble.    THE  CHRISTIAN  YEAR. 
By  John   Keble.     With  an  Intro- 


duction and  Notes  by  W.  Lock, 
D.D.,  Warden  of  Keble  College! 
Illustrated  by  R.  Anning  Bell. 
Second  Edition.  Fcap.  8vo.  2s-  6rf. 
Padded  morocco.  5s. 
'  The  present  edition  is  annotated  with  all 

the  care  and  insight  to  be  expected  from 

Mr.  Lock.'— Guardian. 


©IforD  Commentaries 


General  Editor,  Walter  Lock,  D.  D 
Ireland's  Professor  of  Exegesis 

THE  BOOK  OF  JOB.  Edited,  with 
Introduction  and  Notes,  by  E.  C.  S. 
Gibson,  D.  D. ,  Vicar  of  Leeds.  Demy 
8vo.     6s. 

'  The  publishers  are  to  be  congratulated  on 
the  start  the  series  has  made.'—  Times. 

'It  is  in  his  patient,  lucid,  interest-sus- 
taining explanations  that  Dr.  Gibson  is 
at  his  best.'— Literature. 

'  We  can  hardly  imagine  a  more  useful  book 
to  place  in  the  hands  of  an  intelligent 
layman,  or  cleric,  who  desires  to  eluci- 


».,  Warden  of  Keble  College,  Dean 
in  the  University  of  Oxford. 

date  some  of  the  difficulties  presented  in 
the  Book  of  Job.'— Church  Times. 
'  The  work  is  marked  by  clearness,  light- 
ness of  touch,  strong  common  sense,  and 
thorough  critical  fairness. 
'  Dr.  Gibson's  work  is  worthy  of  a  high 
degree  of  appreciation.  To  the  busy 
worker  and  the  intelligent  student  the 
commentary  will  be  a  real  boon  ;  and  it 
will,  if  we  are  not  mistaken,  be  much  in 
demand.  The_  Introduction  is  almost  a 
model  of  concise,  straightforward,  pre- 
fatory remarks  on  the  subject  treated.'— 
Athcnerum. 


IbanDboofes 

General  Editor,  A.  Robertson,  D.D 

THE  XXXIX.  ARTICLES  OF  THE 
CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND.  Edited 
with  an  Introduction  by  E.  C.  S 
Gibson,  D.D.,  Vicar  of  Leeds,  late 
Principal  of  Wells  Theological  Col- 
lege. Second  and  Cheaper  Edition 
in  One  Volume.     Demy  8vo.     12s.  6d. 

'  We  welcome  with  the  utmost  satisfaction 
a  new,  cheaper,  and  more  convenient 
edition  of  Dr.  Gibson's  book.  It  was 
greatly  wanted.  Dr.  Gibson  has  given 
theological  students  just  what  they  want, 
and  we  should  like  to  think  that  it  was 
in  the  hands  of  every  candidate  for 
orders. ' — Guardian. 

AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE 
HISTORY  OF  RELIGION.  By 
F.  B.  Jevons,  M.A.,  Litt.D.,  Prin- 
cipal of  Bishop  Hatfield's  Hall. 
Demy  8vo.     10s.  6d. 

'  The  merit  of  this  book  lies  in  the  penetra- 
tion, the  singular  acuteness  and  force  of 
the  author's  judgment.     He  is  at  once 


of  GbeoloQv 

.,  Principal  of  King's  College,  London. 

critical  and  luminous,  at  once  just  and 
suggestive.  A  comprehensive  and 
thorough  book.'— Birmingham  Post. 

THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  INCAR- 
NATION. By  R.  L.  Ottley,  M.A., 
late  fellow  of  Magdalen  College, 
Oxon. ,  and  Principal  of  Pusey  House. 
In  Two  Volumes.     Demy  8vo.     155. 

'  A  clear  and  remarkably  full  account  of  the 
main  currents  of  speculation.  Scholarly 
precision  .  .  .  genuine  tolerance  .  .  . 
intense  interest  in  his  subject — are  Mr. 
Ottley's  merits.' — Guardian. 

AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE 
HISTORY  OF  THE  CREEDS.  By 
A.  E.  Burn,  B.D.,  Examining  Chap- 
lain to  the  Bishop  of  Lichfield.  Demy 
8vo.     1  or.  6d. 

'  This  book  may  be  expected  to  hold  its 
place  as  an  authority  on  its  subject.  — 
Spectator. 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


27 


Zbe  Cburcbman's  Xtbrarg 

General  Editor,  J.  H.  BURN,  B.D.,  Examining  Chaplain  to  the 
Bishop  of  Aberdeen. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  ENGLISH 
CHRISTIANITY.  By  W.  E.  Col- 
lins, M.A.  With  Map.  Cr.  8vo. 
y.  6d. 

'  An  excellent  example  of  thorough  and  fresh 
historical  work.' — Guardian. 

SOME  NEW  TESTAMENT  PRO- 
BLEMS. By  Arthur  Wright, 
M.A. ,  Fellow  of  Queen's  College, 
Cambridge.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 


THE  WORKMANSHIP  OF  THE 
PRAYER  BOOK :  Its  Literary  and 
Liturgical  Aspects.  ByJ.  Dowden, 
D.D. ,  Lord  Bishop  of  Edinburgh. 
Crotvn  8vo.  3-f.  &d- 
'Scholarly  and  interesting.' — Manchester 
Guardian. 

EVOLUTION.  By  F.  B.  Jevons, 
Litt.D.,  Principal  of  Hatfield  Hall, 
Durham.     Crown  8z'o.     %s.  6d. 

'A  well-written  book,  full  of  sound  thinking 
happily  expressed.' — Manchester  Guar- 
dian. 

'  A  singularly  fresh  and  stimulating  book.' 
— Speaker. 

'  We  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  this 
is  much  the  best  general  account  of  the 
philosophical  consequences  of  the  theory 
of  Evolution  that  has  yet  appeared.' 

— Guardian. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  HEAVEN 
HERE  AND  HEREAFTER.  By 
Canon  Winterbotham,  M.A., 
B.Sc,  LL.B.     Cr.  8vo.     3s.  6d. 

'A  most  able  book,  at  once  exceedingly 
thoughtful  and  richly  suggestive.' — Glas- 
gow Herald. 

Zbc  Cburcbman's  JBtble 

General  Editor,  J.  H.  BURN,  B.D. 
Messrs.  Methuen  are  issuing  a  series  of  expositions  upon  most  of  the  books  of 
the  Bible.     The  volumes  will  be  practical  and  devotional,  and  the  text  of  the 
authorised  version  is  explained  in  sections,  which  will  correspond  as  far  as 
possible  with  the  Church  Lectionary. 


THE  EPISTLE  OF  ST.  PAUL  TO 
THE  GALATIANS.  Explained  by 
A.  W.  Robinson,  Vicar  of  All 
Hallows,  Barking.  Fcap.  8vo.  is.  6d. 
?i  et. 

'  The  most  attractive,  sensible,  and  instruc- 
tive manual  for  people  at  large,  which 
we  have  ever  seen.' — Church  Gazette. 

ECCLESIASTES.  Explained  by  A. 
W.  Streane,  D.D.  Fcap.  8vo. 
is.  6d.  net. 


'  Scholarly,  suggestive,  and  particularly 
interesting. ' — Bookman. 

THE  EPISTLE  OF  PAUL  THE 
APOSTLE  TO  THE  PHILIP- 
PIANS.  Explained  by  C.  R.  D. 
Biggs,  B.D.  Fcap.  8vo.  is.  6d. 
net. 

'  Mr.  Biggs'  work  is  very  thorough,  and  he 
has  managed  to  compress  a  good  deal  of 
information  into  a  limited  space.' 

— Guardian. 


XLbc  Xibrarp  of  2>ewtfon 

Pott  Svo,  cloth,  2s.;  leather,  2s.  6d.  net. 
'  This  series  is  excellent.' — The  Bishop  of  London. 
'  Very  delightful.' — The  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells. 
'  Well  worth  the  attention  of  the  Clergy.'— The  Bishop  of  Lichfield. 
'The  new  "  Library  of  Devotion  "  is  excellent.' — The  Bishop  of  Peterborough. 
•  Charming.' — Record.  '  Delightful.'— Church  Bells. 


THE  CONFESSIONS  OF  ST.  AU- 
GUSTINE. Newly  Translanted, 
with  an  Introduction  and  Notes,  by 
C.  Bigg,  D.D.,  late  Student  of  Christ 
Church.     Second  Edition. 


[  The  translation  is  an  excellent  piece  of 
English,  and  the  introduction  is  a  mas- 
terly exposition.  We  augur  well  of  a 
series  which  begins  so  satisfactorily.' — 
Times. 


28 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


THE  CHRISTIAN  YEAR.    By  John 

Keble.       With     Introduction    and 

Notes   by  Walter    Lock,    D.D., 

Warden  of  Keble   College,    Ireland 

Professor  at  Oxford. 

'The_  volume   is   very  prettily  bound   and 

printed,  and  may  fairly  claim  to  be  an 

advance    on    any   previous  editions.' — 

Guardian. 

THE  IMITATION  OF  CHRIST.    A 
Revised  Translation,  with  an  Introduc- 
tion, by  C.  Bigg,  D.D.,  late  Student 
of  Christ  Church.     Second  Edition. 
A  practically  new  translation  of  this  book, 
which  the  reader  has,  almost  for  the  first 
time,   exactly  in  the  shape  in  which  it 
left  the  hands  of  the  author. 
'A  nearer  approach  to  the  original  than 
has  yet  existed  in  English.' — Academy. 

A  BOOK  OF  DEVOTIONS.  By  J. 
W.  Stanbridge,  B.D. ,  Rector  of 
Bainton,  Canon  of  York,  and  some- 
time Fellow  of  St.  John's  College, 
Oxford. 

'  It  is  probably  the  best  book  of  its  kind.  It 
deserves  high  commendation.' — Church 
Gazette. 


LYRA  INNOCENTIUM.  By  John 
Keble.  Edited,  with  Introduction 
and  Notes,  by  Walter  Lock,  D.D., 
Warden  of  Keble  College,  Oxford. 
Pott  8ve.  2s.  ;  leather,  zs.  6d.  net. 

'  This  sweet  and  fragrant  book  has  never 
been     published     more    attractively.' — 
A  cademy. 
'  The  work  is  given  in  as  dainty  a  form  as 

any  it  has  yet  taken.' — Scotsman. 

'The  analysis  and  notes  are  discriminating, 

scholarly,  and  helpful. ' — ChurchReview. 

A  SERIOUS  CALL  TO  A  DEVOUT 

AND  HOLY  LIFE.     By  William 

Law.    Edited,  with  an  Introduction, 

by  C.  Bigg,  D.D.,  late  Student  of 

Christ  Church. 

This  is  a  reprint,  word  for  word  and  line  for 
line,  of  the  Editio  Princeps. 

THE  TEMPLE.     By  George  Her- 
bert.    Edited,  with  an  Introduction 
and   Notes,   by   E.    C.   S.   Gibson, 
D.D.,  Vicar  of  Leeds. 
This    edition    contains    Walton's    Life    of 
Herbert,  and  the  text  is  that  of  the  first 
edition. 
'As  neat  and  desirable  an  edition  of  the 
work  as  can  be  found.' — Scotsman. 


Xeaoers  of  IReligton 

Edited  by  H.  C.  BEECHING,  M.A.    With  Portraits,  Crown  Svo.    3s.  6d. 
A  series  of  short  biographies  of  the  most  prominent  leaders  of  religious 
life  and  thought  of  all  ages  and  countries. 
The  following  are  ready  — 


CARDINAL  NEWMAN.     By  R.   H. 

HUTTON. 

JOHN  WESLEY.  By  J.  H.  Over- 
ton, M.A. 

BISHOP  WILBERFORCE.  By  G. 
W.  Daniell,  M.A. 

CARDINAL  MANNING.  By  A.  W. 
Hutton,  M.A. 

CHARLES  SIMEON.  By  H.  C.  G. 
Moule,  D.D. 

JOHN  KEBLE.  By  Walter  Lock, 
D.D. 

THOMAS    CHALMERS.      By    Mrs. 

Oliphant. 
LANCELOT  ANDREWES.      By  R. 

L.  Ottley,  M.A. 


AUGUSTINE  OF   CANTERBURY. 

By  E.  L.  Cutts,  D.D. 
WILLIAM      LAUD.       By    W.     H. 
Hutton,  B.D. 

By  F.  MacCunn. 
By  R.  F.  Horton, 


By  F.  A.  Clarke, 


JOHN  KNOX. 
JOHN  HOWE. 

D.D. 
BISHOP  KEN. 

M.A. 
GEORGE     FOX,    THE    QUAKER. 

ByT.  Hodgkin,  D.CL. 
JOHN      DONNE.       By    Augustus 

Jessopp,  D.D. 
THOMAS    CRANMER.      By.   A.    J. 

Mason. 
BISHOP  LATIMER.    By  R.  M.  Car- 

lyle  and  A.  J.  Carlyle,  M.A. 


Other  volumes  will  be  announced  in  due  course. 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


29 


Fiction 


SIX     SHILLING     NOVELS 

Marie  Corelli's  Novels 

Crown  Svo.     6s.  each. 


A  ROMANCE  OF  TWO  WORLDS. 
Twentieth  Edition. 

VENDETTA.      Fifteenth  Edition. 

THELMA.     Twenty-second  Edition. 

ARDATH:  THE  STORY  OF  A 
DEAD  SELF.     Twelfth  Edition. 

THE  SOUL  OF  LILITH.  Ninth 
Edition. 

WORMWOOD.     Tenth  Edition. 

BARABBAS:  A  DREAM  OF  THE 
WORLD'S  TRAGEDY.  Thirty- 
fifth  Edition. 

'  The  tender  reverence  of  the  treatment 
and  the  imaginative  beauty  of  the  writ- 
ing have  reconciled  us  to  the  daring  of 
the  conception,  and  the  conviction  is 
forced  on  us  that  even  so  exalted  a  sub- 
ject cannot  be  made  too  familiar  to  us, 


provided  it  be  presented  in  the  true  spirit 
of  Christian  faith.  The  amplifications 
of  the  Scripture  narrative  are  often  con- 
ceived with  high  poetic  insight,  and  this 
"Dream  of  the  World's  Tragedy"  is 
a  lofty  and  not  inadequate  paraphrase 
of  the  supreme  climax  of  the  inspired 
narrative.' — Dublin  Review. 

THE      SORROWS      OF      SATAN. 

Forty-second  Edition. 
'  A  very  powerful  piece  of  work.  .  .  .  The 
conception  is  magnificent,  and  is  likely 
to  win  an  abiding  place  within  the 
memory  of  man.  .  .  .  The  author  has 
immense  command  of  language,  and  a 
limitless  audacity.  .  .  .  This  interesting 
and  remarkable  romance  will  live  long 
after  much  of  the  ephemeral  literature 
of  the  day  is  forgotten.  ...  A  literary 
phenomenon  .  .  .  novel,  and  even  sub- 
lime.'— W.  T.  Stead  in  the  Review 
of  Reviews. 


Anthony  Hope's  Novels 

Crown  Svo.     6s.  each. 


THE  GOD  IN  THE  CAR.  Eighth 
Edition. 
'  A  very  remarkable  book,  deserving  of 
critical  analysis  impossible  within  our 
limit  ;  brilliant,  but  not  superficial  ; 
well  considered,  but  not  elaborated  ; 
constructed  with  the  proverbial  art  that 
conceals,  but  yet  allows  itself _  to  be 
enjoyed  by  readers  to  whom  fine  literary 
method  is  a  keen  pleasure.'—  The  World. 

A  CHANGE  OF  AIR.    Fifth  Edition. 
'A   graceful,    vivacious    comedy,    true    to 
human     nature.      The    characters     are 
traced  with  a  masterly  hand.' — Times. 

A  MAN  OF  MARK.    Fifth  Edition. 

'Of  all   Mr.    Hope's  books,   "A   Man  of 

Ma.    "  is  the  one  which  best  compares 

with     "  The    Prisoner    of    Zenda.'"  — 

National  Observer. 


THE   CHRONICLES   OF    COUNT 

ANTONIO.     Fourth  Edition. 

'It  is  a  perfectly  enchanting  story  of  love 
and  chivalry,  and  pure  romance.  The 
Count  is  the  most  constant,  desperate, 
and  modest  and  tender  of  lovers,  a  peer- 
less gentleman,  an  intrepid  _  fighter,  a 
faithful  friend,  and  a  magnanimous  foe.' 
— Guardian. 

PHROSO.      Illustrated     by     H.     R. 
Millar.     Fourth  Edition. 

'The  tale  is  thoroughly  fresh,  quick  with 
vitality,  stirring  the  blood.  '—St.  James  s 
Gazette. 

'From  cover  to  cover  "Phroso"  not  only 
engages  the  attention,  but  carries  the 
reader  in  little  whirls  of  delight  from 
adventure  to  adventure.' — Academy. 


30 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


SIMON  DALE. 

Edition. 


Illustrated.      Third 


'  There  is  searching  analysis  of  human 
nature,  with  a  most  ingeniously  con- 
structed plot.  Mr.  Hope  has  drawn  the 
contrasts  of  his  women  with  marvellous 
subtlety  and  delicacy.' — Times. 


THE    KING'S 
Edition. 


MIRROR. 


Third 


'  In  elegance,  delicacy,  and  tact  it  ranks 
with  the  best  of  his  novels,  while  in  the 
wide  range  of  its  portraiture  and  the 
subtilty  of  its  analysis  it  surpasses  all  his 
earlier  ventures. ' — Spectator. 

'"The  King's  Mirror"  is  a  strong  book, 
charged  with  close  analysis  and  exquisite 
irony  ;  a  book  full  of  pathos  and  moral 
fibre — in  short,  a  book  to  be  read.' — 
Daily  Chronicle. 


Gilbert  Parker's  Novels 


Crown  Svo.     6s.  each. 


PIERRE  AND  HIS  PEOPLE. 
Fifth  Edition. 

'  Stories  happily  conceived  and  finely  ex- 
ecuted. There  is  strength  and  genius  in 
Mr.  Parker's  style.' — Daily  Telegraph. 

MRS.  FALCHION.     Fourth  Edition. 

'  A  splendid  study  of  character.' — 

A  theneeum. 

THE       TRANSLATION      OF      A 
SAVAGE. 
'  The  plot  is  original  and  one  difficult  to 
work  out ;  but  Mr.  Parker  has  done  it 
with    great    skill    and   delicacy. ' 

—  Daily  Chronicle. 

THE    TRAIL    OF    THE    SWORD. 
Illustrated.     Sixth  Edition. 

'  A  rousing  and  dramatic  tale.  A  book  like 
this,  in  which  swords  flash,  great  sur- 
prises are  undertaken,  and  daring  deeds 
done,  in  which  men  and  women  live  and 
love  in  the  old  passionate  way,  is  a  joy 
inexpressible.' — Daily  Chronicle. 

WHEN    VALMOND     CAME     TO 

PONTIAC:    The  Story  of  a   Lost 

Napoleon.     Fourth  Edition, 

'  Here   we  find  romance — real,  breathing, 

living  romance.     The  character  of  Val- 

mond  is  drawn  unerringly.' — Pall  Mall 

Gazette. 


AN  ADVENTURER  OF  THE 
NORTH  :  The  Last  Adventures  of 
'  Pretty  Pierre.'     Second  Edition. 

'  The  present  book  is  full  of  fine  and  mov- 
ing stories  of  the  great  North,  and  it 
will  add  to  Mr.  Parker's  already  high 
reputation.' — Glasgow  Herald. 

THE  SEATS  OF  THE  MIGHTY. 
Illustrated.     Tenth  Edition. 


'  Mr.    Parker   has  produced   a   really 

historical  novel.' — Athentzum. 
:  A  great  book.' — Black  and  White. 


fine 


THE  POMP  OF  THE  LAVILET- 
TES.     Second  Edition.     3*.  6d. 

'  Living,  breathing  romance,  unforced 
pathos,  and  a  deeper  knowledge  of 
human  nature  than  Mr.  Parker  has  ever 
displayed  before. ' Pall  MallGazette. 

THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  STRONG: 
a  Romance  of  Two  Kingdoms. 
Illustrated.     Fourth  Edition. 

'  Nothing  more  vigorous  or  more  human  has 
come  from  Mr.  Gilbert  Parker  than  this 
novel.  It  has  all  the  graphic  power  of 
his  last  book,  with  truer  feeling  for  the 
romance,  both  of  human  life  and  wild 
nature' — Literature. 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


3i 


S.  Baring  Gould's  Novels 

Crown  8vo.     6s.  each. 

'To  say  that  a  book  is  by  the  author  of  "Mehalah"  is  to  imply  that  it  contains  a 
story  cast  on  strong  lines,  containing  dramatic  possibilities,  vivid  and  sympathetic  descrip- 
tions of  Nature,  and  a  wealth  of  ingenious  imagery.' — Speaker. 

'That  whatever  Mr.  Baring  Gould  writes  is  well  worth  reading,  is  a  conclusion  that  may 
be  very  generally  accepted.  His  views  of  life  are  fresh  and  vigorous,  his  language 
pointed  and  characteristic,  the  incidents  of  which  he  makes  use  are  striking  and  original, 
his  characters  are  life-like,  and  though  somewhat  exceptional  people,  are  drawn  and 
coloured  with  artistic  force.  Add  to  this  that  his  descriptions  of  scenes  and  scenery  are 
painted  with  the  loving  eyes  and  skilled  hands  of  a  master  of  his  art,  that  he  is  always 
fresh  and  never  dull,  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  readers  have  gained  confidence  in  his 
power  of  amusing  and  satisfying  them,  and  that  year  by  year  his  popularity  widens.' — 
Court  Circular. 


ARMINELL.     Fourth  Edition. 

URITH.     Fifth  Edition. 

IN    THE    ROAR    OF    THE    SEA. 

Seventh  Edition. 
MRS.  CURGENVEN  OF  CURGEN- 

VEN.     Fourth  Edition. 
CHEAP  JACK  ZITA.  Fourth  Edition. 
THE  QUEEN  OF   LOVE.         Fifth 

Edition. 
MARGERY  OF  QUETHER.     Third 

Edition. 
JACQUETTA.     Third  Edition. 
KITTY  ALONE.     Fifth  Edition. 


NOEMI.    Illustrated.    Fourth  Edition. 

THE  BROOM-SQUIRE.    Illustrated. 
Fourth  Edition. 

THE  PENNYCOMEQUICKS. 
Third  Edition. 

DARTMOOR  IDYLLS. 

GUAVAS    THE    TINNER.       Illus- 
trated.    Second  Edition. 

BLADYS.  Illustrated.  Second  Edition. 

DOMITIA.     Illustrated.     Second  Edi- 
tion. 
PABO  THE  PRIEST. 


Conan  Doyle.     ROUND  THE  RED 
LAMP.      By    A.    Conan    Doyle. 
Sixth  Edition.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 
'The  book  is  far  and  away  the  best  view 
that  has  been  vouchsafed  us  behind  the 
scenes  of  the  consulting-room.'— Illus- 
trated London  News. 

Stanley   Weyman.      UNDER   THE 
RED  ROBE.      By  Stanley  Wey- 
man,  Author   of   '  A   Gentleman   of 
France.'    With  Illustrations  by  R.  C. 
Woodville.         Fifteenth    Edition. 
Crown  Svo.     6s. 
'  Every  one  who  reads  books  at  all  must 
read   this   thrilling  romance,  from  the 
first  page  of  which  to  the  last  the  breath- 
less reader  is  haled  along.     An  inspira- 
tion of  manliness  and  courage.'— Daily 
Chronicle. 
Lucas    Malet.      THE    WAGES    OF 
SIN.      By  Lucas   Malet.      Thir- 
teenth Edition.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 
Lucas   Malet.      THE    CARISSIMA. 
By  Lucas  Malet,  Author  of  '  The 


Third  Edition. 


Wages  of  Sin,'  etc. 
Crown  Svo.     6s. 

George  Gissing.     THE  TOWN  TRA- 
VELLER.    By   George   Gissing, 
Author  of  '  Demos,'  '  In  the  Year  of 
Jubilee,'  etc.    Second  Edition.      Cr. 
Svo.     6s. 
'It  is  a  bright  and  wittybook  above  all 
things.     Polly  Sparkes  is  a  splendid  bit 
of  work.  '—Pall  Mall  Gazette. 
'  The  spirit  of  Dickens  is  in  it.' — Bookman. 

George  Gissing.  THE  CROWN  OF 
LIFE.  By  George  Gissing,  Author 
of 'Demos,'  'The  Town  Traveller,' 
etc.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 

'  Mr.  Gissing  is  at  his  best.'— Academy. 

'  A  fine  novel.'— Outlook. 

S.  R.  Crockett.     LOCHINVAR.     By 

S.  R.  Crockett,  Author  of  'The 

Raiders,'    etc.      Illustrated.      Seco?id 

Edition.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 

'Full  of  gallantry  and  pathos,  of  the  clash 


32 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


of  arms,  and  brightened  by  episodes  of 
humour  and  love.  .  .  .' — Westminster 
Gazette. 

S.  R.  Crockett.  THE  STANDARD 
BEARER.  By  S.  R.  Crockett. 
Crown  8vo.     6s. 

'A  delightful  tale.' — Speaker. 

'  Mr.  Crockett  at  his  best.' — Literature. 

Arthur     Morrison.        TALES      OF 
MEAN    STREETS.      By  Arthur 
Morrison.      Fifth   Edition.      Cr. 
8vo.     6s. 
'  Told  with  consummate    art    and    extra- 
ordinary detail.     In  the  true  humanity 
of   the   book   lies   its  justification,    the 
permanence  of  its  interest,  and  its  in- 
dubitable triumph.' — Athenaum. 
'A  great  book.     The  author's  method  is 
amazingly    effective,    and    produces    a 
thrilling  sense  of  reality.      The  writer 
lays  upon  us  a  master  hand.     The  book 
is  simply  appalling  and   irresistible  in 
its  interest.  _  It  is  humorous  also  ;  with- 
out humour  it  would  not  make  the  mark 
it  is  certain  to  make.'  —  World. 

Arthur   Morrison.     A   CHILD   OF 
THE  JAGO.     By  Arthur  Morri- 
son.     Third  Edition.     Cr.  8vo.     6s. 
'  The  book  is  a  masterpiece.' — Pall  Mall 

Gazette. 
'  Told  with  great  vigour  and  powerful  sim- 
plicity.'— A  thenctum. 

Arthur  Morrison.  TO  LONDON 
TOWN.  By  Arthur  Morrison, 
Author  of  'Tales  of  Mean  Streets,' 
etc.    Second  Edition.  Crown  8vo.  6s. 

'  We  have  idyllic  pictures,  woodland  scenes 
full  of  tenderness  and  grace.  .  .  .  This 
is  the  new  Mr.  Arthur  Morrison  gracious 
and  tender,  sympathetic  and  human.' — 
Daily  Telegraph. 

'The  easy  swing  of  detail  proclaims  the 
master  of  his  subject  and  the  artist  in 
rendering.' — Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

M.  Sutherland.  ONE  HOUR  AND 
THE  NEXT.  By  The  Duchess 
of  Sutherland.  Third  Edition. 
Crown  8vo.     6s. 

'Passionate,  vivid,  dramatic' — Literature. 
'  It  possesses  marked  qualities,  descriptive, 
and  imaginative.' — Morning  Post. 


Mrs.     Clifford.       A      FLASH      OF 
SUMMER.     By  Mrs.  W.  K.  Clif- 
ford, Author  of  'Aunt  Anne,'  etc. 
Second  Edition.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 
'  The  story  is  a  very  beautiful  one,  exquis- 
itely told.' — Speaker. 

Emily  Lawless.     HURRISH.     By  the 

Honble.  Emily  Lawless,  Author  of 
'  Maelcho,' etc.  Fifth  Edition.  Cr. 
8vo.     6s. 

Emily  Lawless.     MAELCHO  :  a  Six- 
teenth  Century   Romance.      By   the 
Honble.   Emily  Lawless.     Second 
Edition.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 
'  A  really  great  book.' — Spectator. 
'  One    of   the    most    remarkable    literary 
achievements  of  this  generation.' — Man- 
chester Guardian. 

Emily  Lawless.  TRAITS  AND 
CONFIDENCES.  By  the  Honble. 
Emily  Lawless.     Crown  8vo.    6s. 

Eden  Phillpotts.  THE  HUMAN 
BOY.  By  Eden  Phillpotts,  Author 
of  'Children  of  the  Mist.'  With  a 
Frontispiece.  Fourth  Edition.  Crown 
8vo.     6s. 

'  Mr.  Phillpotts  knows  exactly  what  school- 
boys do,  and  can  lay  bare  their  inmost 
thoughts;  likewise  he  shows  an  all-per- 
vading sense  of  humour.' — Academy. 

E.  W.  Hornung.  THE  AMATEUR 
CRACKSMAN.  By  E.  W.  Hor- 
nung.     Crorvn  8vo.     6s. 

'  An  audaciously  entertaining  volume.' — 
Spectator. 

Jane  Barlow.    A  CREEL  OF  IRISH 
STORIES.       By    Jane    Barlow, 
Author    of    'Irish    Idylls."      Second 
Edition.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 
'Vivid  and  singularly  real.'— Scotsman. 

Jane  Barlow.  FROM  THE  EAST 
UNTO  THE  WEST.  By  Jane 
Barlow.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 

Mrs.Caffyn.  ANNE  MAULEVERER. 
By  Mrs.  Caffyn  (Iota),  Author  of 
'  The  Yellow  Aster.'  Second  Edition. 
Crown  8vo.     6s. 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


33 


Benjamin  Swift.     SIREN  CITY.    By 

Benjamin  Swift,  Author  of  '  Nancy 

Noon.'     Crown  8vo.     6s.    ■ 

'"  Siren  City"  is  certainly  his  best  book, 

and  it  is  the  work  of  a  strong  man.     It 

has  sobriety,  not  only  of  manner,  but  of 

spiri  t. ' — A  cademy. 

J.    H.    Findlater.      THE    GREEN 

GRAVES  OF  BALGOWRIE.      By 

Jane     H.      Findlater.       Fourth 

Edition.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 

'A  powerful  and  vivid  story.' — Standard. 

'  A  beautiful  story,  sad  and  strange  as  truth 

itself.' — Vanity  Fair. 
'A  very  charming  and  pathetic  tale.' — Pall 

Mall  Gazette. 
'  A  singularly  original,  clever,  and  beautiful 

story. ' — Guardian. 
'  Reveals  to  us  a  new  writer  of  undoubted 

faculty  and  reserve  force.' — Spectator. 
'An  exquisite  idyll,  delicate,  affecting,  and 
beautiful.'— Black  and  White. 

3.  H.  Findlater.  A  DAUGHTER 
OF  STRIFE.  By  Jane  Helen 
Findlater.     Croivn  8vo.     6s. 

J.     H.    Findlater.      RACHEL.      By 

Jane     H.      Findlater.       Second 
Edition.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 
'  A  not  unworthy  successor  to  "  The  Green 
Graves  of  Balgowrie."  ' — Critic. 

Mary      Findlater.       OVER      THE 

HILLS.      By   Mary    Findlater. 

Second  Edition.     Cr.  8vo.     6s. 

' A  strong  and  wise  book  of  deep  insight  and 

unflinching  truth.' — Birmingham  Post. 

Mary     Findlater.      BETTY     MUS- 
GRAVE.      By  Mary   Findlater. 
Second  Edition.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 
'  Handled  with  dignity  and  delicacy.  .  .  . 
A  most  touching  story.'— Spectator. 

Alfred  Ollivant.     OWD  BOB,  THE 

GREY  DOG  OF  KENMUIR.    By 

Alfred  Ollivant.   Third  Edition. 

Cr.  8vo.     6s. 

'Weird,    thrilling,    strikingly    graphic.'— 

Punch. 
'We  admire  this  book.  .  .  .  It  is  one  toread 
with  admiration  and  to  praise  with  en- 
thusiasm.'— Bookman. 
'  It  is  a  fine,  open-air,  blood-stirring  book, 
to  be  enjoyed  by  every  man  and  woman 
to  whom  a  dog  is  dear.' — Literature. 

B.    M.    Croker.      PEGGY    OF    THE 
BARTONS.      By  B.    M.   Croker, 


Author      of      'Diana     Barrington." 
Fourth  Edition.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 
Mrs.  Croker  excels  in  the  admirably  simple, 
easy,  and  direct  flow  of  her  narrative,  the 
briskness  of  her  dialogue,  and  the  geni- 
ality of  her  portraiture.' — Spectator. 

Mary  L.  Pendered.    AN  ENGLISH- 
MAN.     By  Mary  L.   Pendered. 
Crown  Zvo.     6s. 
'  Her  book  is  most  healthy  in   tone,  and 
leaves  a  pleasant  taste  in  the  mouth.' — 
Pall  Mall  Gazette. 
'  A  very  noble  book.    It  is  filled  with  wisdom 

and  sympathy.' — Literary  World. 
'At  once  sound  and  diverting.' — Academy. 

Morley     Roberts.       THE     PLUN- 
DERERS.    By  Morley  Roberts, 
Author     of    '  The    Colossus,'    etc. 
Crown  8vo.     6s. 
'  The    author    secures  and    maintains  the 
reader's  lively  interest  in  his  clever  ab- 
surdities.'— Pall  Mall  Gazette. 
'  The  whole  atmosphere  is  one  of  high  spirits 

and  high  comedy. '• — Globe. 
'  Mr.  Roberts  writes  of  real  people  who  do 
things  and   know   things.  '• — Black  and 
White. 

Norma  Lorimer.  MIRRY-ANN.  By 
Norma  Lorimer,  Author  of  'Jo- 
siah's  Wife. '     Crown  8vo.     6s. 

'  The  heroine  is  rare  and  striking,  but 
thorough  woman  and  altogether  lovable, 
and  the  plot  is  brisk  and  well  sustained.' 
—Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

'  It  is  a  Manx  story,  and  a  right  able  story. 
The  atmosphere  is  excellent,  the  descrip- 
tive passages  fine,  and  the  story  is  one 
which  will  repay  perusal.' — Glasgow 
Herald. 

'  A  Manx  novel  which  is  at  once  sincere, 
poetical,  and  in  the  best  sense  true.' — 
Academy. 

Helen  Shipton.   THE  STRONG  GOD 
CIRCUMSTANCE.       By    Helen 
Shipton.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 
'A   story  of  high  merit  and   many  attrac- 
tions. ' — Scotsman. 
'  An  up-to-date  story — and  a  very  beautiful 
one  —  of    self-sacrifice.'  —  Daily     Tele- 
graph. 
'  A  most  effective  story,  written  with  both 
insight  and  imagination.' — Leeds  Mer- 
cury. 


34 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


Violet  Hunt.  THE  HUMAN  IN- 
TEREST. By  Violet  Hunt, 
Author  of  'A  Hard  Woman,'  etc. 
Crown  8vo.     6s. 

'  Clever  observation  and  unfailing  wit.'— 
Academy. 

'The   insight   is  keen,    the   irony  is   deli- 
cate.'—  World. 

H.  G.  Wells.  THE  STOLEN  BA- 
CILLUS, and  other  Stories.  By 
H.  G.  Wells.  Second  Edition. 
Crown  8vo.     6s. 

'  The  impressions  ofa  very  striking  imagina- 
tion.'— Saturday  Review. 

H.  G.  Wells.  THE  PLATTNER 
STORY  and  Others.  By  H.  G. 
Wells.  Second  Edition.  Cr.  8vo. 
6s. 

'  Weird  and  mysterious,  they  seem  to  hold 
the  reader  as  by  a  magic  spell.' — Scots- 
man. 

Richard  Marsh.  MARVELS  AND 
MYSTERIES.  By  Richard 
Marsh,  Author  of  'The  Beetle.' 
Crown  8vo,     6s. 

'  While  under  their  immediate  influence  the 
reader  is  conscious  of  nothing  but  thrill- 
ing excitement  and  curiosity.' — Glasp-ow 
Herald. 

'  Ingeniously  constructed  and  well  told.'— 

Morning  Leader. 
'Admirably  selected  and  of  the  very  best.' 

— Christian  World. 

Esme"  Stuart.      CHRISTALLA.      By 

Esme  Stuart,     Crown  8vo.     6s. 
'  The  story  is  happily  conceived,  and  enter- 
taining throughout.' — Scotsman. 
'An  excellent  story,  pathetic,  and   full   of 

humour.' — A  thetueum. 
'  We  wish  that  we  came  across  more  books 
like  this  clever  and   charming   story. — 
Leeds  Mercury. 

Sara  Jeannette  Duncan.  A  VOYAGE 
OF  CONSOLATION.  By  Sara 
Jeannette  Duncan,  Author  of  '  An 
American  Girl  in  London.'  Illus- 
trated.   Third  Edition.    Cr.  8vo.    6s. 

'A  most  delightfully  bright  book. '— Daily 

Telegraph. 
'The  dialogue  is  full  of  wit.  —Globe. 

Sara  Jeannette  Duncan.  THE  PATH 
OF  A  STAR.    By  Sara  Jeannette 


Duncan,  Author  of  '  A  Voyage  of 

Consolation.'      Illustrated.      Second 

Edition.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 

Richness  and  fullness  of  local  colouring, 
brilliancy  of  style,  smiting  phrases,  and 
the  display  of  very  pretty  humour  are 
graces  which  are  here  in  profusion.  The 
interest  never  flags.  '—PallMallGazette. 

C  F.  Keary.  THE  JOURNALIST. 
By  C.  F.  Keary.     Cr.  8vo.     6s. 

'  It  is  rare  indeed  to  find  such  poetical  sym- 
pathy with  Nature  joined  to  close  study 
of  character  and  singularly  truthful  dia- 
logue :  but  then  "  The  Journalist  "  is 
altogether  a  rare  book.' — Athenceum. 

W.  E.  Norris.   MATTHEW  AUSTIN. 
By  W.  E.  Norris,  Author  of  '  Made- 
moiselle de   Mersac,'   etc.       Fourth 
Edition.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 
'  An  intellectually  satisfactory  and  morally 
bracing  novel.' — Daily  Telegraph. 

W.  E.  Norris.  HIS  GRACE.  By  W.  E. 

Norris.     Third  Edition.     Cr.  8vo. 

6s. 
W.    E.    Norris.       THE    DESPOTIC 

LADY  AND  OTHERS.     By  W.  E. 

Norris.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 

W.  E.  Norris.   CLARISSA  FURIOSA. 

By  W.  E.  Norris.     Cr.  8vo.    6s. 
1  As  a  story  it  is  admirable,  as  nj'eu  d' esprit 
itis  capital,  as  a   lay  sermon  studded 
with   gems  of  wit  and  wisdom  it  is  a 
model.'—  The  World. 

W.  E.  Norris.    GILES  INGILBY.    By 
W.  E.  Norris.    Illustrated.    Second 
Edition.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 
'  Interesting,   wholesome,   and  charmingly 
written.' — Glasgow  Herald. 

W.   E.   Norris.     AN  OCTAVE.      By 
W.    E.    Norris.      Second   Edition. 
Crown  8vo.     6s. 
'A    very    perfect    exposition    of   the    self- 
restraint,    the   perfect  knowledge  of  so- 
ciety and  its  ways,  the  delicate  sense  of 
humour,    which    are   the    main   charac- 
teristics    of     this     very     accomplished 
author.' — Country  Life. 

Ernest  Glanville.    THE  DESPATCH 

RIDER.     By  Ernest  Glanville, 

Author  of  '  The  Kloof  Bride. '    Crown 

8vo.     6s. 

A   highly  interesting   story  of  the   present 

Boer  War  by  an  author  who  knows  the 

country  well,  and  has  had  experience  of 

Boer  campaigning. 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


35 


W.  Clark  Russell.  MY  DANISH 
SWEETHEART.  By  W.  Clark 
Russell.  Illustrated.  Fourth 
Edition.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 

Robert  Barr.     IN  THE  MIDST  OF 

ALARMS.      By     Robert     Barr. 

Third  Edition.     Cr.  8vo.     6s. 

'A  book  which  has  abundantly  satisfied  us 

by  itscapital  humour.' — Daily  Chronicle. 

'Mr.  Barr  has  achieved  a  triumph.' — Pall 

Mall  Gazette. 

Robert    Barr.       THE     MUTABLE 
MANY.    By  Robert  Bakr.    Second 
Edition.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 
'  Very  much  the  best  novel  that  Mr.  Barr 
has  yet  given  us.    There  is  much  insight 
in   it,    and   much  excellent  humour.' — 
Daily  Chronicle. 
Robert    Barr.      THE    COUNTESS 
TEKLA.  By  Robert  Barr.  Second 
Edition.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 
'Of  these  mediaeval  romances,  which   are 
now  gaining    ground,    "The   Countess 
Tekla"  is  the  very  best  we  have  seen. 
The  story  is  written  in  clear  English, 
and  a  picturesque,  moving  style.' — Pall 
Mall  Gazette. 
Andrew  Balfour.     BY  STROKE  OF 
SWORD.     By  A.  Balfour.     Illus- 
trated. Fourth  Edition.   Cr.  8vo.  6s. 
A  banquet  of  good  things.' — Academy. 
'  A  recital  of  thrilling  interest,   told  with 

unflagging  vigour. ' — Globe. 
'  An  unusually  excellent  example  of  a  semi- 
historic  romance.' — World. 

Andrew  Balfour.     TO  ARMS  !      By 

Andrew     Balfour.       Illustrated. 

Second  Edition.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 

'  The  marvellous  perils  through  which  Allan 

passes  are  told  in  powerful  and  lively 

fashion.' — Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

Andrew  Balfour.  VENGEANCE  IS 
MINE.  By  Andrew  Balfour, 
Author  of  'By  Stroke  of  Sword.' 
Illustrated.  Crown  8vo.  6s. 
A  vigorous  piece  of  work,  well  written,  and 
abounding  in  stirring  incidents.' — Glas- 
gow Herald. 

J.   Maclaren  Cobban.     THE  KING 

OF    ANDAMAN :     A    Saviour    of 

Society.    By  J.  Maclaren  Cobban. 

Crown  8vo.     6s. 

'An  unquestionably  interesting  book.     It 

contains  one  character,  at  least,  who  has 

in  him  the  root  of  immortality.' — Pall 

Mall  Gmutte. 


J.  Maclaren  Cobban.  THE  ANGEL 
OF  THE  COVENANT.  By  J. 
Maclaren  Cobban.     Cr.  8vo.    6s. 

R.   N.   Stephens.      AN  ENEMY  TO 

THE  KING.     By  R.  N.  Stephens. 
Second  Edition.     Cr.  8vo.     6s. 

'  It  is  full  of  movement,  and  the  movement 
is  always  buoyant.' — Scotsman. 

'A  stirring  story  with  plenty  or  movement.' 
—Black  and  White. 

R.  N.  Stephens.      A  GENTLEMAN 
PLAYER.      By   R.    N.   Stephens, 
Author  of  'An  Enemy  to  the  King.' 
Crown  8vo.     6s. 
'A  bright  and  spirited  romance  of  adven- 
ture,  full   of  movement   and   changing 
action. ' — Scotsman. 

R.  Hichens.    BYEWAYS.    By  Robert 
Hichens.     Author  of  'Flames,  etc' 
Second  Edition.     Cr.  8vo.     6s. 
'  The  work  is  undeniably  that  of  a  man  of 
striking  imagination.' — Daily  News. 

J.  S.  Fletcher.  THE  PATHS  OF 
THE  PRUDENT.  By  J.  S.  Flet- 
cher.    Crown  8vo.    6s. 

J.    B.    Burton.     IN   THE    DAY   OF 

ADVERSITY.    By  J.  Bloundelle- 
Burton.  Second  Edition.  Cr.  8vo.  6s. 
'  Unusually  interesting  and  full  of  highly 
dramatic  situations.' — Guardian. 

J.  B.  Burton.     DENOUNCED.     By 
J.    Bloundelle- Burton.      Second 
Edition.      Crown  8vo.     6s. 
'A  fine,  manly,  spirited  piece  of  work.' — 
World. 

J.    B.   Burton.      THE    CLASH    OF 

ARMS.     By  J.    Bloundelle-Bur- 

TON.    Second  Edition.     Cr.  8vo.    6s. 

' A   brave   story — brave  in  deed,  brave  in 

word,  brave  in  thought.' — St.  James  s 

Gazette. 

J.  B.  Burton.     ACROSS  THE  SALT 
SEAS.  By  J.  Bloundelle-Burton. 
Second  Edition.     Crown  8vo.     6s. 
'  The  very  essence  of  the   true   romantic 
spirit.' — Truth. 


36 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


W.  C.  Scully.    THE  WHITE  HECA- 
TOMB.    By  W.  C.  Scully,  Author 
of 'Kafir  Stories.'     Cr.  8vo.     6s. 
'  Reveals  a  marvellously  intimate  under- 
standing of  the  Kaffir  mind.' — African 
Critic. 

W.    C.    Scully.       BETWEEN    SUN 


AND  SAND.    By  W.  C.  Scully, 

Author  of  'The  White   Hecatomb.' 

Cr.  Svo.     6s. 

'  The  reader  passes  at  once  into  the  very 

atmosphere  of  the  African  desert :  the 

inexpressible  space  and  stillness  swallow 

him  up,  and  there  is  no  world  for  him  but 

that  immeasurable  waste.' — Athtnatim. 


DANIEL 
SON. 


WHYTE. 
2  CAPSINA. 


OTHER  SIX  SHILLING  NOVELS 

Crown  Svo. 
By  A.  J.  Daw 


By  E.  F.  Benson. 

DODO :  A  DETAIL  OF  THE  DAY. 
By  E.  F.  Benson. 

THE  VINTAGE.     By  E.  F.  Benson. 
Illustrated  by  G.  P.  Jacomb-Hood. 

ROSE  A  CHARLITTE.      By  Mar- 
shall Saunders. 

WILLOWBRAKE.     By  R.  Murray 
Gilchrist. 


THINGS      THAT      HAVE      HAP- 
PENED.    By  Dorothea  Gerard. 

SIR    ROBERT'S    FORTUNE. 
Mrs.  Oliphant. 


THE    TWO 
Oliphant. 


MARYS. 


WALK. 


By 
By      Mrs. 
By    Mrs. 


THE     LADY'S 
Oliphant. 

LONE  PINE:  A  ROMANCE  OF 
MEXICAN     LIFE.        By     R.     B. 

TOWNSHEND. 

WILT  THOU  HAVE  THIS 
WOMAN?  By  J.  Maclaren 
Cobban. 

A     PASSIONATE     PILGRIM. 
Percy  White. 


By 
M.P. 


SECRETARY    TO     BAYNE, 
By  W.  Pett  Ridge. 

ADRIAN    ROME.      By  E.    DAWSON 
and  A.  Moore. 


THE       BUILDERS. 
Fletcher. 


By      J.      S. 


GALLIA.        By      M£nie      Muriel 
Dowie. 

THE  CROOK    OF  THE  BOUGH. 
By  M£nie  Muriel  Dowie. 

A  BUSINESS  IN  GREAT  WATERS. 
By  Julian  Corbett. 

MISS  ERIN.     By  M.  E.  Francis. 

ANANIAS.    By  the  Hon.  Mrs.  ALAN 
Brodrick. 


'98.        By    Mrs. 
By  J.  Keigh- 


CORRAGEEN    IN 
Orpen. 

THE  PLUNDER  PIT 

LEY  SNOWDEN. 

CROSS  TRAILS.   By  Victor  Waite. 

SUCCESSORS  TO  THE  TITLE. 
By  Mrs.  Walford. 

KIRKHAM'S  FIND.  By  MARY 
Gaunt. 

DEADMAN'S.     By  Mary  Gaunt. 

CAPTAIN  JACOBUS  :  A  ROMANCE 
OF  THE  ROAD.  By  L.  Cope  Corn- 
ford. 


SONS  OF  ADVERSITY. 

CORNFORD. 


By  L.  Cope 
By 


THE    KING    OF    ALBERIA. 
Laura  Daintrey. 

THE  DAUGHTER  OF  ALOUETTE. 
By  Mary  A.  Owen. 

CHILDREN     OF    THIS    WORLD. 
By  Ellen  F.  Pinsent. 

AN    ELECTRIC    SPARK.      By    G. 
Manville  Fenn. 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


37 


UNDER  SHADOW  OF  THE 
MISSION.     By  L.  S.  McChesney. 

THE  SPECULATORS.  By  J.  F. 
Brewer. 

THE  SPIRIT  OF  STORM.  By 
Ronald  Ross. 

THE  QUEENSBERRY  CUP.  By 
Clive  P.  Wolley. 

A  HOME  IN  INVERESK.  By  T. 
L.  Paton. 

MISS  ARMSTRONG'S  AND 
OTHER  CIRCUMSTANCES.  By 
John  Davidson. 

DR.  CONGALTON'S  LEGACY.  By 
Henry  Johnston. 

TIME  AND  THE  WOMAN.  By 
Richard  Pryce. 

THIS  MAN'S  DOMINION.  By  the 
Author  of  '  A  High  Little  World.' 

DIOGENES  OF  LONDON.  By  H. 
B.  Marriott  Watson. 


THE    STONE    DRAGON 
Murray  Gilchrist. 


A    VICAR'S    WIFE. 
Dickinson. 


By 

By    Evelyn 


ELSA.     ByE.  M 'Queen  Gray. 

THE  SINGER  OF  MARLY.     By   I. 
Hooper. 

THE  FALL   OF  THE  SPARROW. 
By  M.  C.  Balfour. 

A  SERIOUS  COMEDY.  By  Herbert 
Morrah. 

CITY.        By 


THE      FAITHFUL 
Herbert  Morrah. 

IN  THE  GREAT  DEEP 
Barry. 

BIJLI,    THE   DANCER. 
Blythe  Patton. 


WIFE. 


JOSIAH'S 

LORIMER. 

THE       PHILANTHROPIST 
Lucy  Maynard. 

VAUSSORE 


By  J.  A. 

By  James 

By     Norma 

By 

By  Francis  Brune. 


THREE-AND-SIXPENNY     NOVELS 
Crown  8vo. 


DERRICK    VAUGHAN,     NOVEL- 
IST.     42nd  thousand.      By   Edna 
Lyall. 
A  SON  OF  THE  STATE.      By  W. 

Pett  Ridge. 
CEASE    FIRE!      By   J.    Maclaren 
Cobban.     Crown  8vo.     2s-  &d- 
A  stirring  Story  of  the  Boer  War  of  1881, 
including  the  Siege  of  Potchefstrom  and 
the  Defeat  of  Majuba. 
'  Brightly  told  and  drawn  with  a  strong  and 

sure  hand.' — St.  James's  Gazette. 
'  A  capital  novel.' — Scotstnan. 
'  Fact  and    fiction    are    so    deeply  woven 
together  that  the  book  reads  like  a  fas- 
cinating chapter  of  history.' — Pall  Mall 
Gazette. 
THE  KLOOF  BRIDE.    By  Ernest 

Glanville. 
A  VENDETTA  OF  THE  DESERT. 

By  W.  C.  Scully. 
SUBJECT  TO  VANITY.     By  Mar- 
caret  Benson. 


THE  SIGN  OF  THE  SPIDER.    Fifth 
Edition.     By  Bertram  Mitford. 

THE  MOVING  FINGER.    By  Mary 

Gaunt. 

JACO  TRELOAR.    By  J.  H.  Pearce. 
THE    DANCE   OF    THE    HOURS. 
By  'Vera.' 

A  WOMAN  OF  FORTY.     By  Esme 

Stuart. 
A  CUMBERER  OF  THE  GROUND. 

By  Constance  Smith. 

THE  SIN  OF  ANGELS.    By  Evelyn 
Dickinson. 

AUT     DIABOLUS     AUT     NIHIL. 
By  X.  L. 

THE    COMING    OF    CUCULAIN. 
By  Standish  O'Grady. 

THE  GODS   GIVE   MY   DONKEY 
WINGS.    By  Angus  Evan  Abbott. 


38 


Messrs.  Methuen's  Catalogue 


THE  STAR  GAZERS.     By  G.  Man- 

VILLE   FENN. 

THE    POISON    OF   ASPS.      By    R. 

Orton  Prowse. 
THE  QUIET  MRS.  FLEMING.     By 

R.  Pryce. 
DISENCHANTMENT.  By  F.Mabel 

Robinson. 
THE    SQUIRE    OF    WANDALES. 

By  A.  Shield. 
A  REVEREND  GENTLEMAN.     By 

J.  M.  Cobban. 
A     DEPLORABLE     AFFAIR.       By 

W.  E.  Norris. 


A  CAVALIER'S  LADYE.  By  Mrs. 
Dicker. 

THE  PRODIGALS.  By  Mrs. 
Oliphant. 

THE  SUPPLANTER.  By  P.  Neu- 
mann. 

A  MAN  WITH  BLACK  EYE- 
LASHES.    By  H.  A.  Kennedy. 

A  HANDFUL  OF  EXOTICS.  By 
S.  Gordon. 

AN  ODD  EXPERIMENT.  By 
Hannah  Lynch. 

TALES  OF  NORTHUMBRIA.  By 
Howard  Pease. 


HALF-CROWN      NOVELS 

Crown  8vo. 


HOVENDEN,  V.C.     By   F.    Mabel 

Robinson. 
THE   PLAN   OF   CAMPAIGN.     By 

F.  Mabel  Robinson. 
MR.    BUTLER'S    WARD.      By     F. 

Mabel  Robinson. 
ELI'S   CHILDREN.      By   G.    Man- 

VILLE    FENN. 

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